A New World
by Finbar
Summary: After the final battle, the weary survivors travel to a place where they can finally find some peace.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine, just a idea I had one day, I don't claim it, it's all hers.

_Summary: After the final battle the survivors are transported to a world where Voldemort died in 1981, where peace has been the rule, and battle hardened veterans must try to fit in._

The clouds of smoke that obscured the battlefield shifted and parted under the gentle touch of the chill breeze. The first ray of sunshine of the day dashed over the edge of the mountains and cascaded across the field of corpses that were strewn around the field. The remains of the Forbidden Forest smouldered and the rubble that was once Hogwarts lit up under the touch of the sun. Oblivious to all this were 5 figures, each bowed, bloody and exhausted. Each was saddened beyond what they thought possible, but at the same time, they were relieved. For the past 3 years, they had lived in a state of constant warfare. Their scholing abandoned as the war against voldemort, to protect the innocent and the helpless, had escalated. The rest of the wizarding world had been dragged into this dispute that had been confined to this small island. The lines between Bigotry and Acceptance, between Tradition and Invention, had been drawn and the wizarding world had been decimated. It had become a fight for survival. The simple knowledge that Voldemort was alive, that he had come back from the dead after Harry Potter had killed him while just a baby, had shaken the world. That he was renewing the war, had disturbed them. When the old families of Europe had been given a choice, of join or be considered the enemy, they had joined and the war renewed. The Americans had been dragged in a year ago. Their best and bravest were now dead as well, victims of the final battle. It was estimated that one in four wizards and witches of Europe had died and one in eight from the Americas. A staggering loss to such a small community.

There were survivors of the battle however. Five of them who now leaned on eachother and sat on the rubble of Hogwarts as their minds tried to grip a single fact. It was over. Voldemort was dead. Voldemort was gone. Voldemort wouldn't be coming back. Hermione Granger's shoulders shook, her arms wrapped around herself as she sobbed softly, Ron Weasley's large arms were around her, holding her to him while giving her time to release her pain. Neville Longbottom was stoic, he sat on a large piece of rock and quietly surveyed the ruin, his hands occasionally stroking the hair of the corpse of Luna Lovegood. While Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley sat back to back, using the other's shoulder to lay their head back on as they stared at nothing.

"It's over" was all that Harry said for the first few minutes as he looked over the corpse covered field where the quidditch pitch had once been "Now what?

"what what?" was the reply from Ginny, looking curious. Her brown eyes still a bit wide as the shock of what they had done hadnt fully settled in. "what do you mean?"

"well, we've done it, it's over. Now what? Where do we go? What do we do?" Harry asked. "Diagon Alley is gone, the Ministry…. We know what happened there, what do we have left?" the last question was half sobbed out as tears started to flow. The enormity of the losses they had suffered was finally beginning to sink in. "I've never thought about what to do afterwards. I didn't want to think that far ahead. I don't know what to do"

The others turned to look at Harry as he curled up on himself, rocking back and forth as he sobbed. Perhaps it was that he had voiced their own fear, or that for the first time, since the death of Albus Dumbledore, he didn't know what to do. Harry had been the rock to which they could cling to. He may not always have had a plan, but he always had an idea of what to do next, of how to move on, to regroup or where to go. Now he was empty and so very lost.

"Well" Neville finally spoke up, shifting his staff in his hands. "first we need rest. We need to eat and drink, then we can make plans. I know of a cellar that's undamaged, we can use that. Paws needs to get that gash from Malfoy's cutting hex seen to. Brains, I know your kneecap was dislocated earlier and wasn't fixed properly. Stripes, that pain relief spell isnt going to last much longer. So all of you, follow me." The quiet confidence that Neville exuded was such a change from the clumsy boy of a few short years ago. Refined in the crucible of war, he had gained a level of confidence and leadership that had kept them alive for so long. It was because of their trust in him that Ron, Hermione and Ginny followed.

A few hours later, they five sat around a small everburning fire. A pot of stew was put to the side after they had eaten and they finally relaxed. Ginny lay on her side, using Harry's leg as a pillow as she gazed into the flames while Hermione sat in Ron's lap, using his body heat to keep her warm.

"Well, what do we want to do? Do we re-build Hogwarts? Do we re-build the ministry? Or do we let the Americans do it? I don't know what to do any more" Harry's questions echo'd faintly around the cellar. "I'm just so tired now. Do we get to rest?"

"Rest! Rest!" Hermione suddenly perked up, her voice taking on an excited tone. "that's what he meant!" as she dove off of Ron's lap and started to rummage through the pockets of her vest. "I cant believe I forgot it!"

Ron smiled softly at her obvious excitement, tolerant of her foibles and half explanations as only long experience and deep trust can be. "and one day you will tell us what you are so excited about and then that means we will all know." As he leaned foreward and re-filled her cup with tea.

"Dumbledore!" was the rest of her explanation, eliciting shrugs of ignorance from the others, until she pulled out a small box and enlarged it. Inside was a orb of gold coloured beryl the size of one of Ron's fists. "He gave it to me a week before he died. He said that when it was over we should all touch it when activated and it would take us to somewhere we could rest." She paused and looked at it curiously. "He told me the activation enchantment, but, I have no idea what it does. It's practically glowing with magic, so it's got to be pretty big and I havent been able to get a clear read on the matrices of the energy signatures"

"Are we sure we want to do this?" was all Neville said. It was all he needed to say. For so long his quiet words, seldom spoken, had been the voice of caution that they had all learned to heed. "We don't know where it will take us and do we have a responsibility to help re-build?"

They sat quietly for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts until Ron finally spoke. "I don't believe that Albus would ever do anything harmful to us, This was his last gift to us. We should trust him" He nodded after he spoke his piece then stood. "I'm going to go scout out up top, let me know when you've made your choices." With that he double checked that his various weapons were in place, muttering the checklist as he did so, a long engrained habit, before he fastened his combat robes and headed outside on almost silent feet.

Harry seemed to be lost in thought as he gently stroked Ginny's hair, a habit he had picked up long ago. While Ginny seemed to have dozed off. "Ok, we are going to do it, but not now. In the morning, after we eat. 2 hours after dawn. Paws has first watch, Cub, join him in 2 hours, the rest of us are going to sleep till our watch. I want everyone to have at least six hours. Take a small vial of Dreamless sleep, we don't need the nightmares. After we've eaten, we can go." He nodded and looked at the others. "Brains, can you set up some wards before we sleep so we wont be disturbed?" He didn't even look to her for her reply, rather he simply laid back with a small pack acting as a pillow and went to sleep.

The soft light of false dawn greeted a hollow eyed Harry Potter as he sat on a piece of rubble, looking out through the fog over the body strewn battle field. Already ravens and crows as well as kites and other raptors were taking advantage of the feast of cadavers. However it was not the death that Harry truly saw. He didn't see Ginny carefully picking her way through the field, looting pouches and satchels from the corpses of wizards. The occasional wand, magical blades, and items of power. Since the collapse of Gringots and the wizarding economy, barter had come into fashion and these were hot currency second only to potion ingredients. Harry saw the light spilling through the fog. He saw the flakes of snow drifting down from the sky. He saw the world first dawn without Voldemort. He had fulfilled his purpose in life, the thing he had been born to do. He didn't know what to do next. There was no real ministry any more, let alone aurors. He'd been the one in charge of the fighting forces anyway. He didn't want to join what would be the new ministry, he could just see the paperwork and desk job sapping his life away. There were no more quidditch teams. In fact he sometimes wondered if he even knew how to play any more.

One by one, the others emerged from the cellar. Blinking slightly from the light as they looked around. That they moved in a defensive pattern was nothing that they conciously considered, but all angles including skyward were monitored. Too many ambush's had meant that their guard was never let down Soon all 5 were standing around Harry.

"well, we've got everything we need or can take?" Ginny silently held up a sack before she shrunk it and hung it from her belt. "Noone has any injuries?" A shake from Neville's head. "we've all slept and noone is drained?" Ron nodded "Right, then I guess it's up to Brains then." As he stood, Hermione pulled the crystal out. "oh, weapons out I think. We don't know where we are going. The moment we land, if this thing acts like a portkey, I want a shield up by Cub, Stipes and Paws, If it looks hostile, keep it under guard but do not hex unless they go first. Brains, the moment we land I want you start trying to work out where we are, I'm going to need intel. We all clear? Right," He reached out and placed a finger on the crystal, his sword in the other hand. Ron drew his own sword and repeated the action. Ginny drew her long curved bone knife while Neville simply gripped his staff a bit tighter. Finally Hermione placed a bare hand on the crystal and started to mutter as the crystal started to glow with an erie yellow light before she cried out as clearly as she could."_chymer ni at 'r 'n grai byd_" and they all felt the familiar hook in their navel.

Well, that's Chapter 1, the intro. If you like the idea, drop me a review. Updates are going to be few are far between as I slowly write this, so don't expect it to be finished any time soon, sorry, my muse is eratic.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter world, universe or anything like that. I'm making no money off of this. It's all just fan tribute

* * *

Albus Dumbledore had decided that he was having a good day. As an early christmas present to himself, he'd purchased himself a new pair of woolen socks, extra fluffy, that changed colour every second between over 30 different colours and they had arrived that morning. It was christmas eve this day, Students were gathered in the great hall for breakfast before they would go home for the holiday. There were no classes so students were in high spirits. There had been some form of prank played by a student or group of them that had changed everyone's clothes, skin and hair to their relevant house colours, that noone seemed to mind. House cooperation was at an all time high except on the Quidditch pitch, but even that had an element of fun to it, that made all the games so much more enjoyable. To top off what could only be a perfect morning, the House Elves had prepared a truly wonderful cheese omlette for breakfast. In fact, he pondered as he chewed. It might just be the best cheese omlette he had ever had.

The perfection of his morning was interupted by a sudden twinge on his consciousness. Something was penetrating the Wards of Hogwarts. He had a fraction of a second to react. A flash of concern and the beginning of a straightening of his posture was all he had time for before the air suddenly filled with the charged electric feel of a massive outpouring of pure magical energy. Students hair crackled and sparked as he stood, a flash of alarm crossing his face as he felt the wards allow the energy to pass through them. It felt similar to a portkey, but of a power level he could barely comprehend. He had never allowed such a portkey to be made and only he as the holder of the wards, could make such items that would be allowed to bring anyone into Hogwarts. In the time it took for him to draw his wand, the other teachers were starting to react. Severus Snape had begun to stand. Remus Lupin was beginning to push his chair out. Students had fallen silent as they felt the weight of the magic filling the hall.

As he began to call for attention, he was silenced as a ball of yellow energy appeared infront of the head table. Lightning, charged by raw magic arc'd between it and the floor. Other bolts arc'd out to the roof and walls as the energy grounded itself. Students screamed and began to back away from the front of the hall. The teachers were all standing now, their wands drawn. Goblets of pumpkin juice on the head table detonated as lightning passed through them, yet not a single person was touched. Suddenly there was a crack of thunder and a definate _POP_ as the magic in the air vanished. With it the sphere and lightning vanished as well leaving five strangers who landed lightly on their feat with the cat like grace that only seasoned veterans can have. Dressed in battered dragonskin combat robes, they bore no uniformity, no semblance of markings. None of them had wands out, rather they carried an assortment of sword and knives and in one case, no weapons but a gloved hand held out defensively. Within an instant of landing, the largest of them took a step back, placing himself in the centre of the other four and bellowed a word that even Albus Dumbledore had never heard before, as he slammed the butt of his staff onto the floor and the five were suddenly encased in a powerful shield of some kind that rippled faintly with silver energy.

"CLEAR"

"CLEAR"

"CLEAR"

"CLEAR"

"CLEAR"

Was bellowed out from the five as they cautiously looked out over those present, their stances and grim, cautious faces revealed nothing of their intentions as they surveyed the hall, their backs to the one in the centre.

"Brains, give me intel, is this what I think it is?" an expression of shock was beginning to force itself onto the face of the black haired one which was quickly forced off. The others were also displaying the same looks of shock and awe as they looked around. A sense of speachlessness that lasted until Dumbledore took a step foreward.

"Might I enquire, Who are you people and what is the meaning of this?" For the first time since the war against the Dark Lord Voldemort, he unleashed his full magical aura. He was Albus Dumbledore, The greatest and most powerful wizard in the world, staunch defender of the light and Headmaster of Hogwarts. This however didn't seem to even make the strangers blink. Instead he received his second shock for the day and an equally big one as the first as a sudden pillar of light erupted from the staff of the one in the centre which was followed by a pulse of magic that exploded out like a shock wave. Students and teachers alike were pushed back by the wind of power. The doors to the Great Hall opened with a bang. The enchanted ceiling shimmered and went out revealing grey stone where the illusion of the outside had been. Candles flickered and went out before they dropped from where they had been suspended in mid air. Dumbledore did his best impersonation of a goldfish as he felt a massive shift in the wards. Power and complex energies rippled through them, blending and weaving into them seamlessly. Then he paled as he felt a second connection form. He could only guess that new wards had merged with the old ones and these ones were controlled by the stranger with the staff. The implication of what had just happened filled him with horror as he realised what the stranger had accomplished. This was offset by a sudden surge of pride and love from Hogwarts herself. He could feel Hogwarts accepting these new wards willingly, even with a sense of joy. What stunned him most was that he could feel Hogwards helping to fuel the placing of the wards. Draining magic from areas like the stairs and some enchantments to fuel them.

Teachers were asking questions, which he didn't hear. Students were fleeing the great hall. The prefects had stayed, though at the back, their wands out, ready to defend their school, but this was ignored by both Dumbledore and the strangers, who were now looking worried. Three of them had their hand that was bare placed upon the large staff wielding one, who was trembling and looking both shocked and exhausted. Concern and anger clouding their vaugley familiar faces as the shield that protected them flickered and dropped.

Before Dumbledore could even repeat his question, the black haired one had turned to face him and looking wary, asked "what did you do to him?" Again Dumbledore was shocked. These strangers who arrived in such a manner were blaming him for this? He had no idea what was going on!

"Not his fault Streak" gasped out the one with the staff. "She linked with me and put up Brain's new wards. She's a clever old girl."

Dumbledore was shocked again as he felt the surge of satisfaction and motherly pride from Hogwarts at this statement. That the school itself was accepting these strangers left him totally confused.

"I will ask again, who are you people and what are you doing here" His aura of command flared up again as he struggled to regain control of the situation. The teachers looked dumbfounded and confused. Hostility and caution seemed to be the obvious flavour of the day, they were definitely hesitant to attack such obviously powerful individuals.

The black haired one smiled slightly, "I wish to apologise for any fear we have caused Headmaster, I assure you that we are not hostile." To demonstrate this, he sheathed his sword, a cue it seemed for the others who put their own blades away. "Perhaps this should be discussed in a less public place, such as, for example, your office? Perhaps professors Snape, McGonnagal, Lupin and Flitwick would like to accompany us to ensue our good intentions?"

* * *

In the Ministry of Magic, alarms that had not been heard for twenty years were blaring. Arthur Weasley, Head of the Depatment of Magical Law Enforcement, burst into the ministers office.

"Minister, we have two massive surges of magical energy from Hogwarts, type unknown. It's off the scale. I've scrambled a team of Aurors to investigate. Floo access is cut off."

Minister Amelia Bones had just gotten into the office. She had been having her first cup of tea for the day while reviewing the nights reports. Life had been peaceful for the past 5 years of her term in office. Save for rumours of a new Dark Lord, there had been unprecedented levels of peace and prosperity. The pureblood families had been cooperative with the ministry, the Goblins were happy, Taxes were low but more than enough to allow the ministry to function. In short, life was good. The sound of the alarms had caused her to drop her cup of tea. As she scrambled to save the reports, Arthur had burst in with the news, causing all worry about the reports to vanish.

"Are you sure it wasn't dark magic?"

"no minister, it's an unknown energy sort. We'll provide you with a full report as soon as we know anything."

Kinglsey Shaklebolt, Head of the Aurors, had not been having a good day. He'd overslept his alarm and had to hurry to make it to work on time. He had been caught in the rain and now was sitting at his desk, still damp despite his best drying charms with a precious cup of coffee infront of him. The optomistic side of him knew that once he finished his coffee, the caffine would kick in and he'd be fine for the rest of the day. Sadly, he was not to get his wish as just as he was taking his second sip, the alarms started blaring causing him to spit out his coffee and drop the cup in surprise. The pain of a cup of hot coffee in his lap was only surpased by the shock of hearing the Hogwarts alarms going off. Moving at full speed, he bolted for the watch room, where operators were busy making notes of what had happened. Cancelling the alarms he leaned over to look at what had been registered. Seeing the size of the power spikes, he immediately ordered the on duty emergency response team, the reserve team and the last shift's team, who were about to head off duty, to make for the portkey room with all haste. To his mind it looked like a high priority emergency at Hogwarts and he didn't want to go there with too few aurors.

By the time he made it to the transfer room, the twelve aurors were already assembled and waiting. Two hit wizards had also taken it on themselves to come along as well, something for which Kingsley was greatful. Picking up the length of rope marked as the portkey to the Hogwarts front hall, he waited till everyone had taken ahold. "3..2..1 Activate." He felt the familiar tug behind his navel as he was transported. However half way through the journey he realised that something was very wrong as he felt himself _shunted_ sideways and rather than end up as they left, but inside Hogwarts, the fifteen of the ministry's finest found themselves sprawled on the ground outside of the front gates of Hogwarts. A shimmering dome of magic covered Hogwarts and sounds of yells and screams could be heard from inside. Wasting no time, Kingsley stood and started to run, however he was stopped rather abruptly when he crashed into the wards, which were as solid as a rock. As he was not an irresistable object, despite what his last girlfriend had claimed, he bounced off the immoveable wards and for the second time in less than a minute, found himself sprawled on the ground, like the rest of his teams, unable to enter Hogwarts.

* * *

In the great hall, both Neville and Dumbledore felt the incoming portkey bounce off the wards. To Dumbledore's surprise, the portkey, which he recognised as a ministry one, was diverted from it's destination to outside the wards. Blinking in surprise, he looked at Neville who just shrugged and looked to Harry.

"Incoming portkey of unknown origin was just diverted to outside the wards"

Harry nodded in understanding then turned to Dumbledore. "As I suggested headmaster, perhaps this should be continued in your office?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned and headed for the exit. Regaining his poise, Dumbledore signalled to the professors he wanted to be in his office. "Could the rest of you please return the students to their common rooms. Prefects are to keep the students calm, this should be resolved in an hour or two and then the students can depart for their homes."

The trip to the office was silent. The five strangers not only showed a disturbing familiarity with the layout of the castle, as they took the quickest path to the entrance to the office, but the headmaster was even more shocked when the big one simply tapped the gargoyle with his staff and the staircase opened for them. Still in silence, they moved into the office where the female who didn't have red hair, and had a disturbingly intense gaze, simply waved her hand, conjuring 5 chairs, which they sat in. Not to be out done, Albus waved his wand to conjure a matching number of chairs for himself and his professors as well as a table between the two groups.

"Now that we have some privacy, I restate my questions." Leaning back in his chair, Dumbledore was sure he could regain control of this situation. His eyes twinkling gently.

The five remained stoney faced for a few seconds before the one who conjured the chairs spoke. "Headmaster, certain things will be revealed here that while not breaking any laws, must remain a secret. To that end, we will require a wizards oath of secrecy from yourself and those present. In return, we offer an oath to tell nothing but the truth. Is that acceptable?" Even Snape was impressed by the poker faces of the five. In an effort to find out more, Dumbledore allowed a thin tendril of Legilimancy to waft out from his mind, which immediately was stopped by impressively formidable Occulemancy barriers. The witch didn't even blink. "If however you would prefer to play games and try to invade my mind, you are welcome to try, but that will be taken as a hostile attack." The others didn't move, but now had a definate air of violence about them, as if they were ready to leap up and start cursing in the blink of an eye, which they probably were.

"Yes, well" Severus Snape remained motionless, he had recognised the detatched way these strangers had prepared themselves and wasn't about to provoke them. "Perhaps as a sign of good will, we should alternate? As you have no brandished weapons and we don't know who you are or if we should trust you?" A hint of his customary sneer drifted into his voice. "One of us swears and then you and so on. That way a level of trust is exchanged."

The five remained quiet for a moment, before the black haired one spoke up. "Agreed, however once we begin, everyone here swears the relevant oath, no exceptions" He nodded faintly then looked to the Headmaster.

"I Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, on behalf of the teachers present and myself do give my Wizards oath, by my life and magic, not to reveal any words spoken in this meeting or discuss it with any save those present unless released from this oath" As he did so, he held out his wand, which glowed for a moment and then faded.

The black haired one smiled faintly, a hint of a sly sense of humour showing itself as he held out his own wand. "I Harry Potter, Head of the Order of the Phoenix, Lord of Gryffindor, on the behalf of myself and my companions, do swear to tell the truth for this meeting." The wand glowed, but this was not noticed by the staff members who were gaping in absolute shock .

"you're dead" blurted out Snape. "Pettigrew killed you! I saw your corpse!" Professor McGonnegal had gone white and was frozen with shock. Professor Flitwick just emitted the occasional squeak. Dumbledore was motionless while Remus Lupin blinked, peered at Harry for a moment and then fainted.

Harry looked to Remus, a flicker of concern was quickly quashed under iron self control. With that, he leant back in his chair and looked to Dumbledore, rigid self control on both sides allowing not a trace of emotion to show. With a groan, Remus sat up.

"Harry? But you died! James and Lily! Your alive! How? What? Who? Did you say Lord?" His confusion was silenced as Ginny leant over and hit him on the head with a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Bad Moony, no chew toy for you!" Nodding with satisfaction, the young witch leant back in her chair, grinning impishly. Ron and Neville both snickered while Hermione looked disapproving. Professor McGonnegal's lips pursed into a thin line while Professor Snape smirked. Remus just looked shocked.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, I should introduce my companions. Ladies first, this is Lady Hermione Granger, of the Order of Gryffindor, Second in command to the Order of the Phoenix, Potions Mistress and Runes Mistress. The beautiful rehead next to me is Lady Ginevra Weasley of the Order of Gryffindor. The other Redhead is Sir Ronald Weasley, of the Order of Gryffindor, Battlemaster of the Order of the Phoenix and last but not least, Sir Neville Longbottom of the Order of Gryffindor, Potions Master and Holder of the Wards of Hogwarts." He allowed a smile to cross his face as he finished, the teachers on the other hand looked to be in a state of abject shock. Severus Snape was gaping like a fish, not even his harsh self discipline developed as a spy against Voldemort was enough to contain his sheer shock.

"You are all dead! What kind of sick joke is this? Impersonating the dead!" He was interupted as Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Now now Severus, the oath they swore is enforced by magic itself, therefore, no matter how unlikely, they must tell the truth. Though I will admit that I am very curious as to how all five of you came back from the dead?" With that question, he regarded them.

"I do not believe we did Headmaster" was Hermione's reply "If you could give us the quick version of how we died please? This will most likely confirm the details of a theory I am developing."

"Indeed Miss Granger" He smiled benevolantly "Mr Potter died at the hands of Peter Pettigrew moments before Mr Pettigrew himself died due to linked magics from his dark mark. We are not sure what happened exactly, but Lord Voldemort, a powerful Dark Lord, also died there, along with Mr Potter's parents. You died at the fangs of a basilisk during your second year. In fact you were the second student death. Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom also died because of the basilisk but inside the Chamber of Secrets. Ms Weasley died at the fangs of the Basilisk as well." Nodding to each of them as he spoke, he was surprised to see not shock, but amusement on their faces.

"Honestly Neville" Harry poked Neville with a finger "were you trying to be some kind of hero? What were you doing trying to take on a basilisk without me to actually kill it." His laughter seemed infectious amongst the five.

"Very well Headmaster" Hermione's voice was calm once again. "I believe I have enough information to propose a hypothesis as to what exactly has happened. It is my belief that the five of us have been moved from one dimension, reality, existance, take your pick of the term. To another, this one. I have point of divergance for this reality from ours. I believe this was a deliberate move made by you. In our reality as it was you who provided us with the transport device and instructions as to how to activate it. I am asuming that this device was developed from studies made by the unspeakables in the department of mysteries, based off of, among other pieces of information, the nature of the Veil of Death." She paused a moment to gather her thoughts. "I don't suppose it would be too much trouble to ask for some tea? This conversation could take some time and none of us have had a good cup of tea in over a year."

Blinking slightly, Dumbledore tapped his wand on the table and a full tea set appeared. Pouring cups of tea for those who wanted them, he adressed Hermione. "an interesting theory Miss Granger, from your attire and demeanour, your reality is somewhat more punative than ours?"

"We have our reasons Headmaster. Let me explain. As far as I can tell, Harry's death is the divergance point. Wormtail betrayed the Potters, allowing Tom to enter Godric's Hollow. Lily and James Potter were then killed by use of the killing curse. It was at this point that the divergance occurs, Tom used the Killing curse on Harry and it rebounded off of Harry, back at Tom. This lead to Tom's spirit linking to Harry's and being driven out of his body. From what you have said, we could then hypothesise that Wormtail then killed Harry with a knife. The lack of a link to provide stability to Tom and holding him from crossing over during the first few minutes of his new existance would likely have been all that it took. His spirit would have discorporated and crossed over to what eternal judgement there may be. In our reality, Wormtail did no such thing, likely fleeing the area. This meant that Tom, stabilised and fled the area. He then fled to Albania where he posessed animals bodies and whatever people were unlucky enough to cross his path, leading to our fourth year when he kidnapped Harry and used his blood in a ritual to provide him with a body. This lead to his second rise and open warfare. In our sixth year, Hogwarts was closed due to the number of deaths occuring due to raids by Death Eaters." She paused to sip her tea, remembered pain crossing the faces of all of them.

"Most of the Hogwarts staff was dead by what would have been our seventh year. The Order of the Phoenix was the main resistance against Tom, The ministry was crippled early on by minister Fudge, after his death and due to massive infiltration by Death Eaters and those sympathetic to their goals, the next two ministers were helpless. A year and a half ago, the ministry was gone due to a unknown magical explosive of some kind. By then, you were dead as well and Harry was running the Order. We got support from most of Europe and the Americas, however so did Tom. Six months ago, England was the battleground for both sides. There were few pitched battles, but both sides were running a guerilla war. Due to a numbe of factors, not the least of which being pressure from allies on both sides, the Muggles were left alone. This was simple survival. If they found out about us, then the magical world, globaly, would be exposed and that was unacceptable to both sides. That was about it for rules of engagement though. The european wizarding communities economies collapsed, people helped where they could, but gold was meaningless next to the value of a vial of good skele-grow or some rare potions ingredients or an enchanted item."

"Five months ago, Hogwarts finally fell, leaving the side of Light with no true base to operate out of. Of course, by then, the north and east wings had already been destroyed. This meant we were on the run. Magical England was over ninety percent under Tom's fist. Most of Europe was covertly under his control. A week ago Luna Lovegood allowed herself to be captured. She held out for four days under torture before allowing false information to be dragged from her that brought Tom and his inner circle to us." Ginny leaned over and hugged Neville, who's knuckles had gone white gripping his staff. "and finally, sixteen hours ago, Lord Voldemort was killed in a pitched battle against all that was left of the side of Light, Taking every marked Death Eater with him."

Silence followed the narration. Hermione's voice had remained calm and analytical, dispasionate even. This was bellayed by the fact that towards the end, tears were rolling down her face. Once she was finished, Ron gathered her into his arms and hold her close. Ginny was hugging Neville and Harry seemed to have been carved from stone for all the emotion he displayed.

* * *

Hmmm The beginings of the secrets are revealed, the staff are stunned by what could have been and Hermione gets to show off her brain. Yes, these people are more tactile with eachother that might be expected, but they do have a deep trust based intimacy. More chapters to come, but it may be a few weeks before the next one is ready. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not Mine, All belongs to Her, I make no money from it, not making any claim to it. Please don't sue.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore leant back in his chair, observing the five infront of him. His twinkling blue eyes took in the details that so many had missed. The way they moved their feet, the way all of their hands trembled slightly since their story had begun. The faint, almost unoticeable scars and blemishes over their visible skin, that all pointed to them having indeed been through what they had claimed. He could feel the intense grief, loss and bewilderment that seems constrained only by occulemancy shields that were not at all weak. To his eyes, their story was logical, it made sense. This boy, Harry Potter, the way he held himself, was so very like, but unlike his father. None of the arrogance, but a natural leader, only forged in the crucible of war. He also took note of the sword at the child's side. It was undoubtably the hilt and crosspiece of the Sword of Gryffindor, which was currently residing inside the sorting hat. Thus, no matter how far fetched it seemed, their story must be true. The biggest problem he now faced was how to integrate five strangers to this reality, whom everyone knew to be dead, whom had arrived in such a dramatic manner. If they hadn't been seen by anyone then it would be so much easier.

"I believe what you have told me." He paused to give the teachers, delightful people though they were, they tended to not react well to surprises. "I offer any assistance that I can to aid you in the re-building of your lives in this world. Tell me, two of you claim the title of Masters of areas of study, can you back these claims up with developments? If so, I will gladly arrange for you to be logged on the rolls. The other main concerns I have are your parents and how to explain the years you have been missing." Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled merrily as he looked at those seated. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Silence settled over the office as the problems were contemplated, until Harry finally spoke. "I don't have the problems the others do, mine are different and more political in nature. However, we have three sets of parents to deal with. The Weasleys, if they can be convinced of the truth, will most likely, with the exception of Percy, welcome their lost family members home. I honestly cant speak for the Longbottoms, I simply don't know anything about them. The hardest problem though will be the Grangers." His hand reached around Ginny and gently caressed the back of Hermione's neck under her hair. "They have lost their only child to the magical world and as such, most likely want nothing to do with it, I hardly think that they, if they are anything like the Grangers I knew, will accept an alternate reality theory." His head bowed slightly. "I am also very hesitant about exposing Hermione to that possible rejection. As for how we came to be here, honestly, I don't care what story you come up with, or use the truth, so long as it makes sense and we can remmeber it. Keeping in mind that many will be trying to catch us in our words. Perhaps the truth might be easier?"

Dumbledore paused for a moment to sip some tea while he contemplated the problem. "Miss Granger, while I am thinking on this, perhaps yourself and Mr Longbottom could present your potion mastery theories to Professor Snape? To have him best evaluate them, as the leading potions master in Europe?"

Hermione grinned faintly "I can do better than that Professor" as she reached a hand down to her belt and came up with two vials of potion. "I have a sample here of the two potions that Neville and myself have developed, I am unsure if they exist here, perhaps you can inform me Professor Snape? This one is a nerve regeneration potion. It's primary use is to repair the damage caused by the Cruciatus curse. On average, each dose will repair up to one minute of damage caused by the curse, It lasts in the body for up to an hour, so if you drink it just before being subjected to the curse, there will be no damage for the proscribed time. Handy little beverage that this is, the second is, in our opinion, far more useful. We called it the Will Strengthening Potion, the basis of it is that it uses the essence of elderly Mandrake, combined with twelve drops of dragons blood and two phoenix tears, per dose being brewed. This in turn bolsters the strength of will of the recipient, resulting in a twelve hour resistance to the Imperius curse. It can also be given to those who are currently under the curse, to remove it's effects from them. These were developed because at the end of the day, we were not Harry and couldn't throw off the Imperious curse or continue to move while under the Cruciatus curse. They have been tested in combat situations and do indeed work. The only problem is that the Nerve Regeneration potion has to be twelve hours between doses, or there is a toxic level of basilisk blood in the system and you die." With that pronouncement, Hermione leant back in her chair, never breaking eye contact with professor Snape, who had a shocked look on his face.

"Throw off the Imperious? Repair the damage caused by the Cruciatus? Are you trying to tell me that these two, age old problems have been solved by a pair of children? Who did you steal these ideas from, to claim them as your own?"

Hermione and Neville's expressions went flat, emotionless. "Snape" Neville finally spoke. "Know this, you have made an accusation that I cannot in good faith allow to stand. You now have two choices. You may apologise and restract your insult, or you may stand before either one of us in a wizards duel. Please understand, that we are only allowing you this courtesy as a show of respect to Professor Dumbledore. If it were up to any of us, you would already be dead." The cold, matter of fact way this was said, was what chilled the teachers the most. Combined with the fact that all of them seemed to have gripped one weapon or another, a little tighter. "Make your choice"

"Perhaps Professor Snape was hasty in his declarations?" Dumbledore interjected. "I'm sure this matter can be worked out peacefully?" Neither Hermione nor Neville had let their gaze drift from Snape.

"Sorry Professor" Harry spoke up, if anything sounding amused. "Snivellus opened his mouth and insulted the honour of two Knights of Gryffindor, As their leige lord, I will not allow this matter to stay unresolved. He has been given his choices. Now he may either withdraw his comments in cowardice, or go onto the field of Battle, which we just left, and attempt to prove his words are justified. I am sure you recognise the legal procedure here? The old forms between two wizards, in this case, Longbottom, Granger and Snape. An insult and accusation of theft has been made. Now comes the time to back those words up." With that, he stood up, the others following his movements. "As Snape has not replied, we must assume that he means to back up his words with action, am I correct?"

Severus Snape was many things, a dueler, an assasin, spy and teacher, but he was not a coward. "Very well, I will prove my words. Noone calls me a coward. Granger, since you were the one I was speaking to, let your actions defend your words." He nodded in satisfaction, not understanding the cold smirk that touched her face. "As the challenged party, I have choice of weapons. I choose Magic over Blades." A superior smirk grew on his lips. "Though I do not expect much of a challenge from a mere child."

It was a grinning Harry that leant over and whispered to Dumbledore in a stage whisper. "Ya know, out of all of them, Hermione is the only one even I'm cautious about dueling. You'll see why" He chuckled, then spoke to everyone. "I believe we have enough here to witness this, when do we want it to take place? We have Aurors outside the wards currently, who are unable to get in, I am sure the Ministry has been alerted to this fact and are currently panicking. Shall we say, Dawn tomorrow? After we have worked out a cover story? Or do we do it now, in full view of those who are trying to get in?" He grinned "it would be quite the show."

Dumbledore shook his head. "not now, while tempers are high. It wouldn't do to upset the Aurors either." He fixed Neville with a twinkling gaze "Am I to assume that it's your doing, that the new Wards are keeping people out?"

Neville blushed slightly then rubbed the back of his neck, looking a touch sheepish. "ah, actually, No, this is Her doing really. You see, the drain on the magical energies of the castle itself to fuel the placing of the new wards was kinda extreme because no preparations were made. She's still a bit peeved at me about it actually. Anyway, she's keeping the wards up till her reserves come back. As it stands, none of the passworded doors are locked and the stairs arent moving. A few other features also arent working," he suddenly grinned "if there are any pranksters, they might take advantage of the fact that the Slytherin common room door is wide open and cant be locked shut, if they were thinking that is."

Dumbledore frowned faintly "Yet the wards themselves remain up. Ah, I see, this is a defense mechanism, to protect Herself while she recovers. I understand." He allowed a smile to cross his face. "Well, if I estimate correctly, then we have a good five hours before she will return control of the wards to us. In that time, we can certainly come up with an acceptable story." He paused. "I will however ask the heads of houses to leave us now and return to their charges. Simply explain to them that these visitors arrived due to a damaged portkey" His smile grew as he relaxed slightly in his chair. "yes, old friends, trained by someone I know of, who had finished battling a dark wizard, elsewhere, and their return portkey was damaged. That would explain everything. Please my friends, go and reassure the children, we don't want a panic situation."

The fours teachers stood and headed for the doorway but were stopped by his voice again. "as for explaining the various portraits and statues not sealing any doors, it might be easier to simply allow them to believe that the portkey's arrival caused such a drain on the castle wards, that I have diverted some, not all, of the magical energies of the school to repair the damage and that everything will be fine by dinner." He looked to the five visitors. "would this be acceptable to you?"

At Harry's nod of acceptance, the four teachers departed, leaving a now teary eyed Remus Lupin who was staring at Harry. "I never imagined that I might ever see you again. Your father would have been so proud of the man you have become."

"Thank you Professor" Harry paused. "Though I never knew the James Potter of this reality, I'd imagine they were not very different." He paused and grinned faintly. "and an arrogant prat as well, though we all have our faults." He turned to Dumbledore "I like your idea, if I may indulge in it for a little more detail? Mad Eye Moody, I'd imagine he is the same here, had a teacher by the name of Alonzo Vestini. A good man, dedicated servant of the light. He taught Moody how to duel on a larger scale than in tournaments and drilled his attitude of 'Constant Vigilance' into him. If the histories are the same, he vanished in 1972. He is long thought to be dead. Perhaps he didn't die, but slipped into the background, taking the fight to the enemy. I'd imagine that even before the death of Voldemort, he would have been keeping an eye out for potential new potential apprentices." Harry's smile grew faintly, while Hermione nodded in approval, the others looked confused. "Perhaps his spy network, which was rumoured to be extensive, had access to information that you did not. I'd imagine that if he were to have apperated to the Potters just as Wormtail died, he may well have been able to save the life of a dying baby. However, he was also an intelligent man. He left another child there, transfigured to look like the baby, but dead, and departed taking his new apprentice with him. Then, eleven years later, he saw another opportunity. With a monster roaming Hogwarts, he could pick up the four children with true potential. I'd imagine that he didn't want to hurt the families, but was desperate. He was too old now to take the fight to the dark wizards, thwarting them before they rose to power. However, with him now having five apprentice that he could mould into his arm, as he did Moody, the dark wizards who wished to become the new dark lord, all around Europe needed stopping. He told them the truth of what he was doing, promising that they would be able to return home later, once the major threats were gone. Their sense of duty and responsibility are what has lead them to return now that their mentor is truly dead. It was sad how he passed away, stopping a dark wizard from commiting some foul act of dark magic, fighting along side his apprentices. I'd imagine he went the way he wanted. Afterwards, we burnt down the unplottable mansion in, lets say, the Czech Republic, and returned home, however our portkey was damaged and here we are? This also accounts for a few easily explainable vanishings of some dark wizards who more than likely botched a ritual, it explains the long period of peace you have had, thanks to the tireless efforts of these poor brainwashed children. It explains the sword I wield and our titles, as Alonzo was a Gryffindor, though he swore he should have been in Slytherin, he was braver than he was cunning." Harry sat and smiled at Dumbledore and Lupin. "is that acceptible? It's convenient because we all know about Vestini, Moody told us several stories about him, we also know the hand language that he developed because Moody taught us, so he will believe us, though he knows how to keep a secret, so you might want to consider telling him the truth"

Dumbledore nodded slowly as he considered what he had been told. "Yes, I do believe that will do nicely. I will contact Alastor tomorrow, to allow you to inform him of the details, of course I am bound by my oath not to reveal any of the truth without your permission. Yes, I think that will do nicely. It will keep the ministry off your back with regards to where you have been and once you reveal your title to them, then they will have no choice but to accept it. Yes, I think this will work well. Now, we only have two more problems to deal with. First and most immediate is Miss Granger's duel with Professor Snape. I would ask that you do not injure him too greatly Miss Granger." The headmaster paused to smile "I have no doubt that you can defeat him, Severus is too out of practise to defeat you, however he is a masterful potions maker and as such, I do need him."

Hermione grinned faintly. "I think I might let him experience one of the spells I developed, It will all be over rather quickly." Beside her Ron snorted as he smiled and Ginny was practically bouncing in her seat with amusement.

"The other problem is the matter of your parents. I'd imagine that having been without them for so long, you treasure your independence. However, I do implore you, to be gentle with them. Do not fight against them too much, but rather accept that they do love you and have mourned your deaths. It will take time, but I ask that you open your hearts to them. With that, I have assigned rooms to you, that will be yours for as long as you wish while you stay at Hogwarts. The main room is the private chambers of Godric Gryffindor, The Castle had seen fit to place four more bedrooms off the sitting room. I can only assume She wishes you to stay there. Please, get some rest, bathe, eat, drink and be at peace for you are home and safe."

Though he didn't mean for his words to have such an effect, the last words hit them like a thunderbolt. Tears ran down Ginny's cheek. Neville sat still as stone and ron sniffed quietly. They were, for the first time in so very long, safe.

* * *

Authors Notes:

Pazed- Yeah, Dyslexia and a messed up spell checker make for fun adventures in spelling. My bad, I try to fix them where I can while writing, but…

Frog1- Yeah, There are several, which is what inspired me.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I never did, I don't make no claim to any of it. It all belongs to her!

Authors Note: Yes, I know it's late, I know it's slow. My muse is erratic at best and now I have a new job, free time is hard to come by. Sorry

* * *

Amelia Bones' day had started so well and only gone downhill from there. First there were the Hogwarts alarms and now she was receiving reports that Hogwarts was cut off. "What do you mean cut off?" 

Kinglsey Shackelbolt frowned. "It's like I said, the wards are up, new ones too from the looks of things. We can't get in. Every spell we try just bounces off and they are acting as a physical barrier as well. We heard some screams and sounds of running at first when we arrived, but now it's silent. One of our spotters claims he saw some movement in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers, so I'm guessing that the students are in there. The Hogwarts Express was due to leave an hour ago and is still waiting at the platform. Basically, we need to make a decision; do we alert the parents to the fact that the Hogwarts Express will be late? And if so, what reason do we give? When we don't even know what is going on."

Amelia frowned and then sipped her tea. "I want you to maintain two squads at Hogwarts. Have the express stand by, it might be needed anyway. I want you to oversee the operations of things at Hogwarts until we get word as to anything happening. We have to hold off until we know something. In the mean time, why don't you contact Gringotts and borrow Bill Weasley. Take him up there and see what he can do in the way of identifying these new wards and find a way in." With that decision made, Amelia turned and began to work on the next problem.

* * *

Back at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore was contemplating the new problems he was facing. The students couldn't leave the school and were most likely going to be a bit late getting to Kings Cross Station if they didn't leave in the next two hours. These new wards were more complex than he had initially thought, meaning that it would have to be Neville who lowered them, or the school would lower them herself when she choose to. Sucking on a lemon drop, he looked out over the front gate, where what looked like a dozen Aurors were trying to find a way through the wards to enter the school. Clearly they had been bought in from the Ministry when the power surges were detected. Sighing to himself, he made a decision to act, while the visitors were resting. 

Bill Weasley was feeling torn. On one hand, he was being challenged by some of the best warding he had ever encountered, he could see the interwoven strands of the wards. He was amazed and awed by how interconnected these new wards were, how any changes to one would activate more. How traps were built into the warding itself. On the other hand, his best estimate was that it would be a minimum of a month, with his entire team, working around the clock, uninterrupted, to dismantle the first layer of the wards. There were, at his best estimate, at least six layers. He wanted to meet whoever designed these wards and first praise them, then hit them for being so damn good. To have put these up would have taken him and his team at least a two-week period and even then they would have to be balanced and tuned for the area. Somehow these went up overnight. Sighing to himself, he continued to map out the wards as he encountered them, trying to build a map that they could then use to break them to get inside Hogwarts. As such, he didn't notice the fact that the Headmaster was standing less than ten feet away, smiling broadly at the look on his face.

"Ah, Mister Weasley. I do hope you are enjoying yourself with our new wards?"

"Merlin's Beard!" Bill was so shocked he dropped his own wand. "Headmaster, is everything alright? What's going on?" His questions were interrupted by the approach of Kingsley.

"Professor Dumbledore? Is everything alright in there? We registered two massive energy spikes and when we came to investigate, we found that we were blocked from getting in."

"Indeed Kingsley" The headmaster stroked his beard. "The new wards went up significantly faster than expected, I do apologise for this. There is no danger or threat, thankfully. The Ministry will receive a full report of course, indeed, Please extend my invitation to Amelia to pay a visit tomorrow and all will be explained. In the mean time, could you apparate to platform 9 ¾ and let any parents know that the Hogwarts Express was held up at this end by a situation out of our control and as such, will be no more than an hour late in it's arrival. There a good chap" He smiled benignly and then turned and walked back towards the school. Leaving a very shocked curse breaker and Auror behind him.

* * *

It was a scant two hours later that the school children were pouring out of the castle in a flood, making all possible haste to the carriages that stood ready out the front. As the first carriage started to move, the shimmering dome over the school seemed to flicker then vanish. Allowing not just the cheering students to leave, but the dozen Aurors to enter the school. 

In a not very well known tower, five people were currently doing something that they had dreamed of for over a year.

"Harry?"

"Yes Ginny?"

"If I promise to get you some of those butter biscuits you like so much, would you give me a foot massage while Neville washes my hair?" Her look of artful innocence towards the other four was heavily offset by the fact that not a single one of them wore a stitch of clothing between them. The bath, a deep inviting pool of bubble filled hot watery goodness had been declared big enough for all of them and they had literally stripped en mass as they passed through the living area and them jumped in. Savouring not just the hot water but also luxurious soaps and other delights they had either never had time for, or simply couldn't get.

"I could do that, but I could also ask a house elf to get me some of the biscuits and you'd have to find another way to bribe me" This was said as he took up one of her feet in his hands and started the massage, leaving Ginny, who was already on the verge of groaning from the sheer pleasure of having someone wash her fiery mane of hair, to whimper in the sheer indulgence she was experiencing. Harry just grinned at Neville, who was obviously trying not to laugh as well.

Ron and Hermione were slightly less active as they sat there, up to their necks, eyes closed, half asleep as they simply soaked.

"So Hermione" Harry finally piped up after about ten minutes of the only real noise being the occasional splash, whimper or groan from Ginny who was now half asleep.

"What do you have planned for Snape?"

"It's simple Harry." She grinned faintly, "I'm going to break down any shield he raises, catch a few of his hexes then break his knees before forcing him to yield. If he behaves well, I may let him keep his wand."

"Ah" Nothing more needed to be said.

It was almost an hour after they entered that Neville looked up at the ceiling and grinned. "Wards are down. She's happy, kids have left and," he paused as there was a 'pop' and an ice bucket appeared next to him "The butter beers are nicely chilled." With that he passed the bottles out. "So what's the plan Streak?"

Harry leant back against Hermione, using her as a convenient pillow. "For tonight? We stay here. We sleep. Standard watch, of course. My Map should work here, but keep an eye out just in case. No one comes in or leaves except the House Elves. Comes the morning, I was all of us up and prepped at half an hour before dawn. After Hermione wins, we have breakfast. Then we get the headmaster to bring the Weasleys and Longbottoms here. We break the news of who we are to them, listen to Molly rant, and then we tell them the truth after they swear secrecy. After that? I have no idea. I'm still working on that. We may have to stay here for a bit and" he grimaced "do our NEWTS. We will need the qualifications and if any of you don't put your duelling evaluator for the exam in the hospital wing, then you have act as the minion of the rest for a week" he grinned at that while the others chuckled. "Seriously though. We are out of place here. It looks like they haven't seen any fighting since Tom died. I'd put odds on us being some of the most dangerous people in the wizarding world, and that means we need to be careful. My title means that the ministry can't touch me, Hogwarts is legally mine, though she has always liked Cub best" He grinned at Neville who blushed slightly. "However all this means we are going to be the targets of some nasty politics if we don't put the fear of God into them. Hermione, I want Snape down in less than three seconds. Don't toy with him, just put him down hard and fast. Neville, until the school year starts I want you and Ginny in the library finding out all the differences between our world and this one. Ron, I want a secure perimeter. I want detection wards out to two miles. If we are going to be safe here, then we need warning of any threats. Hermione, after Christmas I want you to visit the Ministry. I want your and Neville's masteries registered and stamped. If need be, baffle them with theoretical ward and potion theory. All of you, no mention of our animagus forms. Moony and a few others might guess by the names, but don't give them anything to play with. It's an edge we may need in the future." He sighed softly "Right, that's enough of that, I've got first watch. Lets dry off and hit the sack. It's Christmas tomorrow."

* * *

Dawn broke over Hogwarts to find a group of individuals, most of whom would rather be asleep, gathered in the front lawn. In front of them, two stood apart, dressed in duelling robes, they eyed each other. A sallow faced man glared at a stone faced young woman. 

"Can there be no chance for peace between you?" Albus Dumbledore intoned the ritual question that preceded a duel. "Must the issue come to violence?"

"There can be no peace unless the words spoken are retracted and a public apology is made" Hermione spoke up. Her voice was as cold and emotionless as her face.

Dumbledore sighed. "Then so be it." He incanted some ancient words and a dome of faint blue energy surrounded the pair. "This is not to the death. The first to surrender or be rendered unconscious shall be the looser. Magic itself will enforce this. Let none question the answer. Draw your wands."

Snape elegantly drew his polished wand. His movements fluid and graceful, revealing long practise. His stance was perfect.

Hermione simply raised her hand. It was encased in a gauntlet made of dragonhide. On the palm glittered a faceted gem that covered most of the palm. A few other much smaller gems were positioned around it and on the tips of the fingers. Ignoring the quizzical looks from most of the gathered witnesses, she settled into a semi crouched stance, her eyes locked onto Snape.

"Begin"

That one word was enough for Snape's whip-crack of wand movement. Beautifully executed and technically perfect in it's style, he had sent an _Expelliarmus_ down at Hermione less than a split second after the first syllable had left Dumbledore's lips.

He was a fraction of a second too slow.

His eyes widened as he saw her gauntlet seem to pulse and a startlingly fast bead of energy shot from the hand, with only a muttered incantation to identify it. In the time it took for his mind to realise that first of all, he did not recognise the spell, and that secondly he had to move out of the way, it had crossed two thirds of the distance between them. His own spell was less than a foot away from his own wand. As Snape's wand came up, a hurried _Protego_ on his lips, his mind allowed itself the barest fraction of time to relax. He knew his shield was strong enough to stop most spells short of the darkest of curses.

He was wrong.

To the spectators, a display of incredible reflexes by Professor Snape was dampened by the fact that Hermione's spell simply punched through it. The shield cracked and shattered into shards of magical energy as the bead of light blossomed into a fist sized ball, seemingly activated by the shield that slammed directly into Snape's chest. He was out cold before he hit the ground ten feet away.

Hermione simply swayed her upper body slightly, allowing his spell to graze past her, doing no more than ruffling the sleeve on her robes.

The gathered professors and Aurors were speechless. None of them could even utter a single word.

"Nice one Brains" Ron was not so constrained. "Timed at one point two seconds. That's four tenths of a second slower than your best." He grinned, "Now, can we eat?"

* * *

Ron is a prat so much of the time, but the perfect guy to break the tension or mood grins 

Next chapter...whenever. Not sure, depends how I go. I know this chapter was short, sue me.

Oh, Get thee hence to the Author known as Wargear, for his fics are stange and disturbing and funny. I should know, I helped him brainstorm some of them over lates nights and much caffine

Have fun kiddies and if you can't be good, be good at it

Cheers

Finbar


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, I make no claim to it. All hers. Please don't sue.

Get thee hence to the Author known as Wargear where you will find strange and unusual parodies conceived by the pair of us, while under the influence of sleep deprivation and too much caffeine.

Because people asked, the Marauder names…

Harry – Streak

Hermione – Brains

Ginny – Stripes

Ron – Paws

Neville – Cub

I'm sure you can guess to their forms, but I'll hold off for now stating it outright. It's not too hard to guess though.

* * *

Molly Weasley hadn't had a good few years. The deaths of her two youngest children 5 years before had been a heavy blow to her. The pain in her heart as the Aurors had bought forth the body of Ginny from that horrible Chamber had almost broken her. That there was no whole body of her Ronald had shattered her heart. Rivers of tears had begun from her eyes in the months afterwards. Years later, all it would take was a small trigger to set her off again. She had known the instant that they had died. The magic that binds a family as close knit as the Weasleys had reverberated with their deaths. Now, as she sat on the couch in the front room of The Burrow, looking through the family photo album with tears rolling down her face, she felt something. To be sure, it was faint, it felt different, it may even be her imagination, but she could almost feel her beloved children again. Sighing to herself, she took this as a sign that they were watching over her, from whatever afterlife they were in, and went to check on her cooking. The entire family would be here tonite. Tomorrow was Christmas. It was due to the depths of her grief and that she was lost in memories of the past that she did not hear the 'clunk' of two old hands re-appearing on her clock, then moving to point to 'Hogwarts'. She would not notice either, due to the numerous cards that obscured the face. Her children had finally come home.

* * *

The five travellers were walking towards the Great Hall, when a more hurried than usual Albus Dumbledore caught up with them.

"Miss Granger" he managed to puff out before he regained his dignity and poise, though the faint flush on his cheeks gave away his state. "How did you do that? What is that on your hand?" The normally unflappable headmaster seemed almost childlike with curiosity. "I've never seen anything like it. It clearly wasn't a form of wandless magic, but not a wand"

Hermione smiled faintly. "Would you believe that you gave me the idea Albus? Three years ago. I designed and made it myself. The main crystal is simply another form of wand, though not quite able to channel as much power as a powerful wand core such as Phoenix feather, it gives me the advantage of substantially more control over the magic itself, allowing for more detailed manipulation. The smaller gems around the main one simply aid that. The finger tips ones are for fine control of the individual threads of magic used in wards." She smirked faintly "Of course, I don't think most people are ready for that level of control, it goes against too much of their understanding of Magic."

Dumbledore could only nod as she moved past him, leaving him more than slightly confused as, according to his understanding of magic, such control was simply not possible, indeed, her device should be theoretically impossible to make work. He needed a lemon drop.

After a delicious breakfast, the five assembled in Dumbledore's office, a rather put out Professor Snape was also present.

"Ms Granger. Mr Longbottom." He almost spat out. "It seems I was mistaken with regards to my earlier comments. As the Magic itself has proven your claims, I have no honourable alternative but to apologise for my words and retract them. As such, I will sign as a witness with regards to your masteries once you have presented to me the documentation and brewing methods regarding your potions." That last seemed to be almost forced out through semi-clenched teeth. Without waiting for a reply, the pale man nodded to the headmaster and swept from the room. His cloak swirling and flaring dramatically behind him.

"I have got to get him to teach me how he does that" was all that Harry murmured before the other four started grinning and giggling at his comment.

"Yes, well" He was interrupted by Dumbledore. "I do thank you Miss Granger for your generosity, though I am very curious as to which spell you used? I don't believe it was one I have ever heard of before."

"You wouldn't have" came the reply from Ron. "It's designer kept it secret, only ever writing it down in one book. It's just over a year old and I'm afraid we wont be sharing it with you." The nods from the others elicited only a sigh from the aged headmaster.

"Very well, I do hope that one day you might share with me the fruits of your research into new and forgotten spells, but not today. Today, I wish to get in contact with your families, at least, the Magical families. I had someone last night check on the Grangers and I agree with Mr Potter's assessment, sadly. I do not believe they would at all be receptive. On the other hand, I have high hopes for both the Weasleys and the Longbottoms." The only expressions that greeted this announcement and smile (with extra eye twinkling) were a blank, emotionless mask by all of the five.

"Yes, well, with your permission, I will contact the Weasleys first. I do believe the entire family will be present at The Burrow." He looked to Harry and waited for the nod of approval. With that, he moved over to his fireplace and threw in a handful of flue powder. "The Burrow!" Then knelt in front of it. Never noticing the parchment that floated over to his back and gently stuck to his robes.

* * *

At The Burrow, the Weasley family, all seven of them, were relaxing in the lounge room after a tasty breakfast when the fireplace flared green and the illustrious face of the most powerful wizard in the world could be seen, smiling.

"Good Morning and Merry Christmas to you all."

The family gave a collective jump and start at the caller. Then Molly stepped forward, "Good Morning and Merry Christmas to you Headmaster." Though pleasant, there was a hint of disapproval in her tone; this was after all, the man who had let her youngest children die. "What can we do for you?"

Dumbledore just smiled benignly "It is more what I can do for you actually. I'd like the entire family to flue over to my office. Right now if possible. No emergency, but something that I know for certain you will all be most appreciative of." With another twinkle and smile, he pulled his head out of the fire.

It was a confused and slightly apprehensive group of Weasleys that emerged from the fireplace to seat themselves in front of the headmaster's desk. He, on the other hand seemed positively relaxed. His eyes sparkling at record levels.

"Now, before we go any further, I wish to reassure you that this news is only good, there are no major problems. However, I do require a Wizards Oath from all of you, that what is discussed here, will remain a secret. In return, I offer a Wizards Oath to speak only the truth to you about this matter. Would this be acceptable?"

The looks of confusion amongst the family grew, but nods of agreement and the subsequent oaths showed how much their curiosity had been raised.

"Now then, as you may have heard, yesterday, there was a bit of excitement here at Hogwarts. Some visitors arrived by portkey during the leaving feast. What is truly amazing is that these visitors are not from our world." He paused to take in their stunned expressions. "I shan't go into the mechanics of it, let us just say, that the Albus Dumbledore in this other world, made a special portkey that bought them here. They have had hard lives; I shall not mince words with you. In their world, the dark lord Voldemort" he paused while Arthur and Molly blanched. "Did not die in 1981 like he did here. Rather he survived despite being cast out of his body. He eventually had a new body made for him and the war continued. These five are the only survivors of the final battle where thousands took part. The victors. They have lived with war and death for years." Dumbledore looked at each of the Weasleys. "I had given them the portkey before my own death it seems, so that after they won, they would come here, to rest. It was their arrival yesterday that caused the problems. Hogwarts herself recognised them and welcomed them, which resulted in a change to the wards, which young Bill had such a headache over. " Bill blinked and nodded in understanding. "But now to the heart of the matter. Two of these travellers are in need of a home. They watched their parents die, along with the rest of their family. I do believe that you can help them."

From behind the shocked and amazed Weasleys, there was the sound of a door opening and footsteps. The family turned, and froze. Utter shock

"Mum?"

"Dad?"

Molly Weasley had turned a stark white. Her wide eyes took in the nervous faces of her two youngest children. Distantly, a tiny voice in her mind pointed out that these weren't technically her children. However this tiny voice was shouted down. Booted from the thought stream and exiled from the head. The very shock of her children coming back to her was too much and Molly Weasley fainted. Directly into the waiting arms of Bill.

Arthur Weasley hadn't moved. His mouth hung open and a lone tear rolled down his cheek. His baby girl was back.

"Oh dad, I'm so sorry!" Ginny burst into tears as she flew forward to latch onto her father. Hugging him as tight as she could. Hysterically, she sobbed out her grief. "We tried, I tried, I really did, we couldn't get to you on time. I'm so sorry, there were too many of them, I couldn't get to you, I'm so sorry." The rest of her words babbled off into incoherency as she clutched to her father. He, in turn held her, his own words lost to her ears, but their soothing tone slowly bringing her back from her grief.

Ron just stood there, arms folded, tear tracks visible on his cheeks as he watched Ginny unload. His eldest brothers were half way between worry about their mother and staring at him in awe. Till finally he moved forward. He had a feline grace they had never seen before and his eyes had a haunted look. "Well, I have to say, this is most unexpected and indeed, most welcome." It was Percy who spoke up, then took a step back in fear. The look in Ron's eyes, of absolute hatred, was enough to have him fearing for his life. "Perhaps you'd like to look after mother?" Was the best he could stumble out.

Ron pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "Stay away from me Percy. Stay away from Ginny and I until you know everything." His voice was so cold that even the Twins looked shocked. He moved forward some more and crouched next to his mother, taking her into his arms with an infinite gentleness and awed look. "It's ok mum, it's all going to be ok. He can't get you now, everything's going to be fine." A tear rolled off his nose to splash on her cheek. "The Burrow, it's home, we can all go back there now, Brains, Cub and me, we put new wards up see, you'll be safe there" The last few sentences barely mumbled out as he held his mother.

The rest of the Weasley Family, all 5 brothers, remained respectfully silent. Awed and concerned by the deep, heart-breaking sorrow the pair showed at the sight of their parents. Silently vowing in their hearts, not to let such pain touch them in this world.

* * *

It took almost an hour and a calming draught for Molly, before stories could be quietly traded. During this time, a pair of middle aged Aurors had also arrived. Their carefully crafted blank expressions were well known amongst the wizarding world. The Longbottoms were the most powerful, most successful Auror pair ever. In some circles it was joked that the unprecedented levels of peace were due to fear that the Longbottoms would come after them. The pair of Master Aurors stepped gracefully from the fireplace and froze. Before then, clad in battle robes stood what could only be their dead son. Not looking aggressive, he was sitting on the edge of the headmaster's desk, a magnificent staff leaning against him. His expression could best be described as nervous acceptance. Reacting with the speed for which they were famed, both had their wands out in the blink of an eye.

"Dumbledore! What is going on here?"

Neville just smiled softly, his eyes misty as he leant his staff forward slightly and clearly spoke in a non-threatening tone. "_Cogna Familias"_ A white mist drifted from the top of the staff to settle over him, before floating up to shape itself into the words 'Neville Horatio Longbottom'. "Hello Mother, Father. The headmaster can explain everything."

* * *

Harry sat on the couch, both arms around Hermione, in front off them were the two families and emotions were overflowing into tears.

"I'm not saying I'm not happy to see the Weasleys or Moony or the Longbottoms, I'm not Harry, but it would be nice to be able to see my Parents." Hermione sighed softly "I wont ever get to see them again will I? They wont ever accept me here, I know them, they will have turned their back on the wizarding world, it was never their place to begin with. I'm alone here." She curled up a bit more on the couch.

Harry frowned slightly and turned to look her square in the eyes.

"Hermione, while I live, you will never be alone unless you choose to be. You are family, like it or not."

* * *

Authors Notes: Well, yes, this HAS been slow to update, But pokes I warned you about that back in the first chapter or two, or somewhere. So dont go blaming my eratic and easily distracted muse. Thanks to Wargear for beta'ing the chapter and fixing up my horrible, horrible abuses to punctuation combined with my brutal assault on the english language.

Happily, the next xhapter IS written and in Beta as we speak. I kinda ended up writing these two chapters together, then cutting and mixing and matching scenes to make the best fit. That said, I get the feeling (from the whimpers of suffering) that Wargear may have to take a bit of time to edit the dialogue I wrote. It really isnt my forte smirks

Cheers

Finbar


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: It's not mine, it's all hers. Send not thy lawyers and attack weasels to gnaw upon mine ankles

* * *

Remus Lupin slowly came back to the lands of the awakened from Morpheus' realm. Bleary eyed he rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. Two streams of thoughts duelled in his head. The first was always present. The count down to the full moon: It would be 11 days. The other was the more than slightly unbelievable fact that Harry was back. The son of Prongs and Lilly. It was so shocking; he didn't know how he should react. On one hand, he was delirious with joy; on the other was the terrible fact of the sort of life that he had obviously lived. Then, on the third hand, because three arms were better than two, was the slowly dawning reality that maybe, Harry didn't need him. Harry was an adult now, who had lived through a war. Remus knew how fast war makes people that age grow up.

Harry was grown now, and while he looked like Prongs, he lacked so many of the defining traits. He wasn't loud. He didn't have the arrogance that James had. Remus loved James like a brother but even he could see the flaws in the man. Harry seemed to be the best of James and Lilly. James' confidence, but Lilly's restraint. James' charisma and leadership, tempered by Lilly's kindness and desire to help rather than impress. Lilly's eyes and James' face.

Lilly's eyes... By Merlin, those eyes had never looked so haunted as the eyes he saw. Just flashes, before that cold emotionless mask went back up, but what he did see. Deep emotional scars, pain, a deep weariness. It gave him a shiver down his spine and made his heart ache to think of the child of James and Lilly feeling that.

Then there were the other details that he was only just beginning to think about. The others all looked to him, he wasn't their leader because of their title, he lead because of his natural authority. He had been in a war, as the leader, so he had fought, not sat back and let others lead. The way he moved, it's precise economy, like a big cat. He was, Remus pondered, possibly the most dangerous person he had ever seen, short of Moody. Padfoot would be so proud.

Padfoot!

Sirius didn't know!

* * *

Sirius Black: Millionaire playboy, Party Animal, Womaniser, Prankster and Hound Dog; was having a relaxing Christmas morning. He was due to meet up with Moony for lunch and to exchange presents. Which meant he had a few hours to kill. He was sitting on the white shagpile carpet in front of his fire, casually cleaning some grease from the chain of his beloved motorbike, when an overly excited and emotional Remus Lupin tumbled out of the fireplace.

"Moony! Just in time, care to help me? I've gotten a bottle of hundred year old brandy and no one in the house to drink it with!" Sirius greeted his long time friend with a big hug and patted his back. The fact that he managed to wipe his hands clean on Remus' back was purely coincidental.

"Padfoot! Harry! Portkey! Dumbledore's Office!" Remus was none too coherent, so made up for his lack of immediate linguistic ability by dragging a very surprised and confused Sirius Black towards the fire. "HE'S ALIVE! Dumbledore's Office!"

It was all Sirius could do not to burst out laughing at his disturbed friend. Normally Moony was the calm one out of the Marauders. His calm, collected intelligence offset and stabilised the erratic and intuitive genius of Sirius Black, resulting in a pair that more than a few in the wizarding world claimed, would be able to sell sandstone to the Goblins. As it was, as he stepped out of the fire, he was the one trying to calm his friend down.

"Ok Moony, now deep breaths, now we are out of the floo. Calm down, count to ten, backwards, in Latin. Ok? Now, are you calm? Good. What's so important?"

"SIRIUS!" Sirius turned at the sound of the voice and could only blink in shock as, to his eyes, he saw James Potter. His best friend, his brother in all but blood, dead these sixteen years; come hurtling towards him and engulf him in a tight hug that left him breathless. He distinctly remembered that James hadn't been this strong.

"Air… need air… Can't… breathe…Prongs? But you're dead!"

Harry grinned and relaxed his hug. "Now, now Padfoot. Are you telling me you don't recognise your own Godson? Shame on you. I'd expected so much more from you. Next you'll be telling me that you don't even remember my name?"

Sirius blinked as the colour drained from his face, looking around wildly he could see a huddle of what were clearly Weasleys, holding onto what could only be their youngest two, who were dead, killed in the Chamber of Secrets. He could see another young man, who could only be Frank Longbottom's dead boy. He turned back to Harry and raised a trembling hand to touch his face. "Harry?" then Sirius Black, who boasted that nothing could truly faze him, fainted.

* * *

To say that the Christmas lunch was slightly more raucous that usual would be a mild understatement. Between Molly Weasley being prone to random outbreaks of hysterical sobbing and hugging the closest person, and the Twins competing with Sirius and Remus to see who could prank the most people. Let alone Ginny covertly running her own campaign of pranking both of them as much as she could. Chaos reigned. Shouts, laughter and the occasional animal noise was the punctuation for a rather tasty feast. Sadly, there were also periods of uncomfortable silence. It was soon an unspoken rule not to ever mention the deaths of the five, for the pain it caused those who were close to them. Neither were the deaths of anyone else mentioned, for the obvious pain it caused the five. Thus while some topics tended to die quietly, many people had a great deal of fun establishing how their lives were different. That Sirius had been, in his words, Azkabanned and his Azkapades while on the run, lead to more than a few groans and food flying in his direction. Harry's status as 'youngest seeker in a century' lead to a few proud sniffs from the surviving Marauders. Ron's performance as keeper to win the house cup (and the story, told by Neville about how he played) lead to a sibling pile with Ron on the bottom.

* * *

However, finally, the celebration had to come to an end. That night, the travellers gathered, with their families in the common room for their chambers. They had butterbeers, and were far more relaxed, though the edge of wariness was visible to the trained eye. That their robes were made from cloth now, not dragonhide, was considered to be a good thing. The adults had never thought of dragonhide under-vests or pants.

"... And that's why we'd like you to come home" Molly Weasley had just finished talking, pleading in places for her children to come home. In her mind, they were her children; they just needed her love more than ever. She could also see the effect that had on them. The almost naked longing, tempered by fear and something else that she couldn't identify.

"Mum" Ron said slowly, almost rolling the words over in his mouth. "I don't think I can put into words, just how much Ginny and I want to go home. It's something we've talked and dreamed about for over a year and a half now. The very idea of seeing The Burrow again, has me practically salivating. However, we can't stay for long." He immediately raised a hand, placing a calloused finger on her lips. "Hang on a second mum. Don't go jumping to conclusions. We've already spoken about this sort of thing. We figured it was coming. However, you also need to understand, we need to have lives as well. We need to re-learn how to go to school. We are going to do our NEWTs this year, this means we need to study. A lot. We need to be able to help each other. In our hearts, we want to go home, but we need to do this first. Once school is over. Me and Ginny will be coming home. We'll be doing chores on occasion and harassing you for food. You will worry about what we are up to when we go out, and hassling us to find a nice person and settle down to give you some grandchildren because the rest of your kids are too scared to ever commit to something like that." He threw a grin at his now blushing brothers. "But the point is. Now we are back, we need to adjust; we need to forge places for ourselves. We need to build our own futures and we can't do that from The Burrow." He kissed Molly gently on the forehead. "You understand mum?"

Molly Weasley was beaming. Through her tears, and the deep regret that they wouldn't be coming home, shone a delighted smile. "Oh Ron, I've never been more proud of you before in my life." She gave him one of her trademark, rib-cracking hugs. "I may not like that you won't be at home, but you and Ginny should be safe here, now." She suddenly grinned, "And you are the first of all your brothers to try arguing logically with me. Normally they just hang their heads." The shocked looks on the assembled clan of redheads, more than made her smile.

"You know Mrs Weasley," came the drawled voice of Neville. "I always wondered which side of the family the Twins got their pranks from. Now I know"

Her blush and smile was more than enough answer.

* * *

Families had to return home and the five had already made their choice. They were staying at the school, there was simply too much to be done. Thus a tearful Molly Weasley was lead off by Arthur, followed by her children. Ginny and Ron were the last to enter their common room, where they slumped onto a couch.

"I'd almost forgotten how exhausting my family could be. Thank Merlin that they accepted it when we told them we didn't really want to talk about the war. I don't think they could have handled it. I know mum was on the verge of going to pieces every time she saw a scar." He shrugged, "I have no idea what to do about it though."

Ginny leant back, her eyes closed in thought, and then she opened them. "We don't do anything about it. This is who we are. She won't like a lot of things about us. She wont like your relationship with Hermione or mine with Harry and Neville, she wont understand. She won't like that we've learnt dark arts or that we've killed. I know she wont like how on edge we seem compared to these people or that I wont even go to the bathroom without a wand and knife. But ya know what? I don't care. It's mum, she's not dead and I don't feel as guilty that I couldn't get to her and dad any more. I'm not going to dream of them tonight." She smiled softly. "It's a bunch less nightmares. None of them are dead. I got to hug them all. Even Percy because he never left." She grinned impishly, "We are going to freak Bill out when he finds out that you are a better dueller than him and I know how to curse break."

Harry was lying along a couch, his head in Hermione's lap. "Don't go showing off folks. The Weasley's are going to have enough trouble with the basics; lets not go looking for trouble from our families. Neville, you have a pair of Aurors who are going to spot holes in what you tell them. If they want to know too much just tell them you are bound by an oath of secrecy to me. Feel free to push all the blame to me, actually," he smirked. "This could be fun." He mock flinched from Hermione's playful slap. "Go easy Brains, I'm delicate."

Her snort of mock disgust was more than eloquent enough.

* * *

In the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, in the formal parlour, to the left of the motorbike and where the oil stains used to be, a pair of Marauders would be, if they were to be found, considered to be plotting. Of course as far as the teaching staff of Hogwarts were concerned, simply having the pair in the same county meant they were plotting or up to something.

"I don't know what to do Moony!" Sirius was pacing. "I know he looks like James, but he isn't. He's Harry and I don't even know him. Before today I hadn't seen him since the day before he died. I'm his godfather but at the same time, he's a complete stranger. What do I do?"

Remus was leaning against his desk, smiling softly as he watched his friend pace. "I've had a chance to watch him Padfoot, he is their leader. He is a natural leader but doesn't want to be. He is also a trained fighter. Remember how our seventh year DADA teacher moved and looked? Think of that, but Harry would eat him alive. He's incredibly dangerous, he can kill, but he will hate it. He's a good man Padfoot. I'd be willing to bet that he has the best features of James and Lilly. His nobility and leadership with Lilly's conscience and compassion." He smiled softly, "He seems to already know you and care for you. So time to pick up your godfatherly duties, Padfoot old boy. He will need a decent room, and a father figure. That's you."

Sirius tripped over a toolbox. "What? You want me to be his guardian? Are you nuts? I'd be a horrible guardian! Can't I just be his friend? You know, help him fit into the world. I don't think he'll need 'the talk'." Sirius froze suddenly. "Oh dear. Moony, how much of the Potter estate have you spent? I mean, technically, it was all fair, we all thought he was dead and he showed up dead to tests, but do you think he will get angry with us?"

Remus grinned, "Not a damned Knut. It's all still sitting there. I just never felt comfortable with it. So I've been living off the interest and saving my salary. You do have the right idea though. It is rightfully his money; we should give it back to him. Merlin knows you can afford it."

Sirius nodded, "Yup, and noone is living in Godric's Hollow, so we can give that to him too. Hell, I had it re-built but never even entered it. I never had the courage. Too many memories. At least he will have somewhere to stay then if he doesn't want to live with me." A wry expression crossed his face. "How do you think he will cope living in my house?"

"Don't you mean, how will he cope with not knowing who the girl in the kitchen will be each morning? Not to mention the spontaneous parties? Probably better than you think. Of course, you wont be able to get away with as much, he might have to beat you up a few times to break you of some nasty habits."

"Beat me up?" Sirius smirked. "I'd like to see him try. Bring it on I say."

* * *

Harry stretched out in bed. Ginny lay beside him, her face relaxed, vulnerable in sleep. She wasn't frowning, or twitching in the throes of a nightmare, rather, a soft smile touched her lips. Harry envied that. He gently climbed out of bed, being careful not to wake her, and passed into the common room. The fire had burnt low and the massive shape of a bear was snoring on the rug. Harry pickup up a butterbeer and sat on a couch, stretching out his feet to use the slumbering bear, which was at least 4ft tall when laying down, while asleep and on the floor stretched out, as a rather convenient footrest.

He stared into the fire and seemed to lose himself in his thoughts. He wasn't aware how long he sat there, his senses slowly becoming more and more attuned to the environment, at one with the world. At peace.

"Can I help you, Professor?" He didn't even look at the window, showing no sign of moving, his quiet voice cut through the silent air. Well, silent, save for the snores of the bear.

The tabby cat smoothly leapt down from the window. As far as feline expressions went, this one was one of shock and a hint of stiff pride. As it strode closer towards Harry, it grew and morphed, becoming an elderly, yet vigorous and stern faced, Minerva McGonnegall. "No Mr Potter, though I will apologise if I interrupted your contemplations. I was checking up on you, if you must know."

Harry finally turned and regarded her, then waved a hand towards a seat. "Might I ask why?"

Sitting down, she regarded him, her expression stern, yet a gentle softness seemed to seep through. "I awoke, suddenly terrified that you and your friends had not returned, that it was a beautiful dream and that I didn't deserve the hope you have bought into these old bones. As such, I felt compelled to check, to make sure you were sleeping and were really here." Not a touch of embarrassment stained her words or face.

For his own part, Harry smiled softly. "One of my fondest memories was in the second week of my sixth year. I'd awoken from another nightmare. Voldemort was busy torturing and killing and I'd managed to scream myself awake again. After I got my breath and had stopped crying from the horror of what I had seen, I looked at the window and saw a very familiar cat perched there. When you turned back to yourself, you gave me a glass of water and pointed out that each night, every night, you check each one of your Gryffindors. You make sure they are asleep and not in trouble." He smiled at her, the first open expression she had ever seen on his face. Deep, soul-wrenching grief was momentarily put aside and pure gratitude shone through. "I never thanked you for that. The fact that I knew that you'd be there, you'd watch over me, that I'd be safe while I slept, that was what got me through to Christmas that year. It was what kept me alive, knowing that you'd watch me sleep and guard me. That was the only reason I got any sleep at all that year."

McGonnegall smiled and nodded her acceptance of his words. "Mr Potter, as long as it is my privilege to teach here, my Gryffindors, all of them, shall be watched over. Wether they know it or not. Every one of them has a place in my heart." Her smile was gentle.

Harry just smiled softly. A smile than grew more amused as her tone of voice changed. "However, as you will be my students once again, I would like an explanation for exactly why Mr Weasley and Miss Granger are sharing a bed, and for why Your-self and Miss Weasley share another, which is in direct violation of school rules."

"Ah, that..."

* * *

Note from Finbar:

It took a while, I had this chapter done at the same time as the previous but Wargear took a bit too long to beta it. I blame him nods sagely . That said, I also had most of chapter 7 written, but, sadly, when I lost my job, the main copy of it, was something I forgot to collect from my email at work. Thus, I'm re-writing it. It may be a few weeks. At the moment, i'm trying for Monthly updates, but dont hold it against me if it takes a touch longer.

Next chapter: Ferret bashing, Wand care and a particularly prideful Neville.

Note from wargear:

Yes, I know spelling errors and the occasional grammatical error slip through, despite my astounding efforts, but if you had to decipher the vile Pictish scrawl that Finbar seems to think passes for English, you'd miss things as well. Don't worry, it's all getting a second dose of beta, then I'm going to make him repost it all…bwa ha ha ha


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: It all belongs to her, not me. I make no claims on it. This is simply my feeble effort to add a few creative weeds to the garden of beauty that she created. Send not thy lawyers and attack weasels to gnaw upon mine ankles.

And now, Enter the Ferret….

* * *

Draco Malfoy was, he felt, at the top of his game. He wasn't the best academically but that was irrelevant really. He ruled the school. He could get away with just about anything really. No student or even group of students would dare stand up to him. The pathetic mudbloods and blood traitors feared him and the power he wielded. Backed up by the simple fact that his father could get him out of just about any situation shy of casting an unforgivable or murder (and even then, so long as it wasn't his wand he should be fine), meant that he had nothing to fear save for his father. The school and its population of students was his to rule with an iron fist of fear. At least, that was his opinion. 

However, a new situation had developed. During the leaving feast, five strangers had appeared, he didn't recognise any of them and none wore any kind of heraldry. He immediately had seen them for the threat they were and, even though he was a prefect, was one of the first out of the hall. After all, he was too important to be risked against some unknown filth. Noone knew who they were and Professor Snape wouldn't tell him, rather all he knew was that his mentor was bound by some kind of secrecy oath, which was, in and of itself, suspicious.

As he made his way into the Great Hall after exiting the Hogwarts Express, he pondered the mission his father had given him. Find out who they are and everything about them. Find out where they stand, their intentions and their weaknesses. Pausing as he passed between the doors to the great hall, his eyes locked onto five figures sitting at the Gryffindor table. Shuddering faintly in disgust at the thought of them being Gryffindors, he allowed his eyes to take in as many details as their could, which in his case, meant he noticed that two of them looked fairly tall, the red head male and the brown haired male. The girls however were absolutely beautiful, with what looked to be very nice chests. He would have to speak to his housemates after dinner, those who had stayed over the holidays, to find out what they had uncovered.

* * *

The five made their way down to dinner for the welcome back feast. Being sure to arrive a little early so they didn't have to wade through the crowds. Though they kept a calm, impassive face, they were nervous. Not only would they be seeing so many people that they had seen die, but they would have to be dealing with substantial crowds as well. Something that none of them felt comfortable with. Sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table, dressed in school robes, which nicely concealed their armoured vests and pants, concealed knives and swords and more, they seemed the very model of senior students. Of course, the coldness of their gazes and the way their eyes never really stopped moving, was a clue that few noticed. 

"Welcome Back" Albus Dumbledore was at the top of his game once again. A few age lines created by the deaths a few years earlier had vanished and he felt better than he had in years. "I do hope you enjoyed your break from your studies. There is one announcement before the feast begins." He paused for a second to draw breath and the sound of either a great cat growling or a rumbling stomach, noone was sure which, suddenly echoed around the hall, prompting muffled laughter. "Yes, yes, it will only be brief. Now, as you are all aware, there was a small disturbance at the end of term feast. Five old friends had dropped in. The ministry has been fully informed and after investigating, has decided to allow these fine people to return to Hogwarts to complete their NEWTS. Their identities have been proven under magical questioning and confirmed. It is with great pleasure that I welcome back Miss Ginevra Weasley. Miss Hermione Granger, Mister Neville Longbottom, Mister Ronald Weasley and I would also like to welcome Mr Harry Potter."

To say the silence was stunned would be too simple. It was stunned, tied up, interrogated, obliviated and now in the long-term ward of St Mungos.

"Merlin's Balls! You're all dead!" A voice echoed across the hall, leaving more than a few students giggling.

"Yes Mister Macmillan, though, I think you will find they are in perfect health. It is a long and difficult tale, needless to say, I do ask that you do not pressure these students nor harass, nor push them for answers. There are many things they are bound not to tell, by magical oaths. Instead, I ask that you make them welcome and offer them the space they need to re-adjust to living in a school once more. Those who choose not to will face stiff and harsh penalties. The most severe that I can met out."

"Now, as there are no more announcements to make, let the feast begin."

As the food appeared on the table, the seventh years that were closest leaned over to the five.

"It is really you guys isn't it? Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Nev?" Seamus asked as they smiled and nodded, resulting in a tear rolling down his cheek. "Damn guys, it's good to have you back. The tower just hasn't been the same." Lavender and Dean both nodded in agreement. "So, we need a party I think." He grinned. "Catch you guys up on what's been happening."

Ron and Ginny both grinned while Neville smiled softly. "It sounds like fun Seamus." Came the soft reply from Neville. "But we aren't staying in the dorms. It wouldn't be safe, so we have a pair of bedrooms behind the picture of Deron the Deranged, off the common room."

This resulted in the other seventh years blinking and looking shocked. "What do you mean by 'not safe'?" Pavrati queried, looking worried.

"It's simple." Hermione stepped into the conversation, hoping that the 'her' of this reality was as much of a know-it-all as she used to be. Sometimes it could be so useful. "We have all been, well, lets just say we haven't been sitting around relaxing for the past few years. So now we have, certain" she paused to think of the word. "Instincts. That would work. Certain instincts. We like you guys, but due to how we were trained, we can't relax around you, around anyone but each other. We don't want to hurt you. Which we could do by accident." The seventh years looked a bit worried and sceptical. "Look, if one of you tried to wake one of us up, you'd have a knife sticking out of your throat and we'd have blown a reductor curse through your chest before we even woke up. Simple enough for you? We are trying to unlearn all this, to be normal again, but it isn't easy and we like you guys too much to want to accidentally hurt you."

The worried looks had turned into shock then fear before relaxing slightly as the words sunk in.

"Don't worry Hermione." Lavender smiled. "We'll help in any way we can" She leant forward and tried to give Hermione a hug, in her own way welcoming back her old room mate. Of course that movement froze as Hermione's arm seemed, to her untrained eyes, flicker and a black bladed, sinister looking knife seemed to leap into her hand as Hermione leant back. At the same time, the dark haired sex god (to her eyes) that could only be Harry Potter also moved. His own hand moved even faster and latched onto Hermione's wrist, holding it in a vice grip for the second she needed for her mind to catch up with her instincts.

"Dammit Lavender! Didn't you listen to a fucking word I said?" The question was hissed out. Hermione's face was flat, expressionless, though her eyes seemed to snap with fury. "I don't want to hurt you but we have certain reactions now that we are trying to stop and lunging in at me right after you were warned is possibly the most stupid thing I have ever heard of! I could have killed you." Worry and sadness had replaced fury and the knife was pushed back up her sleeve. Harry released her wrist and wrapped her in a hug. Lavender still hadn't moved an inch.

"She's right Lavender. You ignored what she warned you about, it's lucky I managed to grab her wrist. Please. Give us some space, we can explain some of it, but we need time. We need space and we don't want to worry that we might accidentally hurt a friend." Harry's voice was calm and reassuring, though his eyes, like cold emeralds, seemed to bore into her.

Lavender nodded and slowly leant back, before beginning to eat. An apology on her face as Harry rubbed Hermione's back till she calmed down and ate her own dinner. The rest of Gryffindor, it seemed, had been watching, along with the Hufflepuff's on the next table over. As a result, more than a few glances in their direction had changed from awed and amazed, to downright scared.

* * *

By the time they reached their common room, Ron was tense and Ginny was twitching. 

"You'd think they'd have learnt at dinner!" she fumed. "Why do they insist on crowding us? The last thing I want is some crotch driven idiot who thinks that because he knew me in my first year and he plays quidditch, that I will want to snog him!"

Harry grinned softly and behind her back, nodded Neville over to her before sitting down. "I know it's going to be tough, just try not to be too tense. Okay? Brains, I know you deliberately pulled the knife on Lavender, do you think it will work?" He smiled softly to let her know he wasn't upset.

"It should, at least with our year in the house." Hermione pondered for a moment. "Yes, it should work. If any of them think of getting too close to us without our approval, they will link that thought with the fact that I, who they know was the calm studious type, would pull a knife on them. That means they will worry what someone like Ron would do, given that he had such a temper back then." She ducked to avoid the cushion that Ron threw at her head.

"I wouldn't worry too much" came from Neville, where he sat on a couch, Ginny curled up in his lap like a cat. "I think Dumbledore had some wards added at some time. Hogwarts can sense the dominant emotions on a person's mind. She's promised to warn me if someone nearby to any of us is hostile." He smiled softly. "She's being incredibly helpful you know? I let her see what we've been up to and what Harry's done. She feels like a doting mother now. Definitely would hate to be Malfoy. She'd been a bit upset at him for bullying and when I promised that we'd look into it, she moved some staircases so he will be stuck with no way to go for the next few hours, she also plans to have Filch find him." He paused to think. "Yeah, she's definitely not happy with him. It seems the Headmaster has been overlooking a lot of what he has done, trying to redeem him."

Hermione frowned. "Well, we know how redeemable he is. He will need a warning shot across the bow. Ginny? You have the lightest hand of any of us. Can you get his wand before breakfast?"

Ginny nodded "easily. What do you have in mind?"

"Public humiliation. Get his wand before we eat, I'll do the spell work and you can slip it back to him." She then went on to explain the rest of her plan. Even Hogwarts joined in the laughter.

* * *

It was a bright and beautiful morning. Being the first day back, half the students were keen, eager and ready to go. The other half wished that they could have had a few hours more sleep and that they didn't have classes today. The thestrals were playful, the stairs were cooperating and Draco Malfoy was in a good mood. He was back in his fiefdom. Students scampered out of his way as he strode down the corridors with Crabbe and Goyle at his back. A cutting remark here, a derogatory insult there. To him, it was looking to be a good day. Spying an opportunity as he made his way into the great hall, he swayed slightly to the right and roughly shouldered a significant redhead out of the way. "You need to learn your place again Weaslette, clear the way for your betters or I'll put you on your back again, not that you don't belong there." With that he arrogantly tossed his head and roughly shouldered passed the diminutive redhead's oafish friends and made his way to the Slytherin table. 

He didn't pay attention to the Gryffindors, as the 7th years seemed to giggle through breakfast. They were beneath his notice. Instead his attention was on, to his mind, more important matters. He had noticed that Susan Bones had grown quite nicely in the past few years, perhaps, once he had scarred off her mudblood ally, Abbot, she might be permitted to receive his personal attention. Yes, Niece of the Minister for Magic, of a properly pureblood line, she would do well indeed. He was beginning to tire of Parkinson. He was older now and she hadn't improved with age. She was clingy, ugly and while from a suitable bloodline, he was beginning to think that while she might make a suitable mistress, to vent his more excessive ideas on, she simply wouldn't do as a wife.

It was with this thought that he finished his sausages and stood, heading off to his first defence lesson with the filthy half-breed.

At the Gryffindor table, they had finished eating a few minutes ago. Now their game faces were on. Standing as a group, they casually made their way to the exit. To all eyes, Ron and Harry were busy talking about a game of quidditch.

"Ok, so he dives under their lead chaser and bam, pops the quaffle right through the centre hoop. The best part was that the keeper diving for it fouled their own seeker so their own keeper got the snitch. Best damn end to a game I ever saw." Ron was also using rather excited hand gestures that both Hermione and Neville had to occasionally duck under. Ginny on the other hand seemed to be paying only peripheral attention. Rather she side stepped suddenly and casually brushed her foot against Malfoy's ankle as he tried and failed, to barge past her, ending up sprawling on the ground at her feet from her trip.

"That's better Malfoy you pathetic little ferret. It's good to see that you have finally learnt your place. At the feet of your betters" She smirked wickedly. "Not that I object mind you, but could you crawl out of the way? Your slime seems to be dirtying the floor."

Draco, first going pale then red with fury, jumped to his feet. He had his wand out and was about to start cursing, when he froze, feeling a wand jab into the small of his back. "You know" Harry muttered quietly into his ear. "As advanced as wizarding medicine is, it can't heal a cutting curse that cuts the spine, which results in a wizard who forever has no feeling below his chest. I'd pity any such wizard, never able to walk and all the problems with incontinence."

"What is the meaning of this disturbance?" The sneering drawl of everyone's favourite potions professor cut through the chatter. "You are blocking the hall Potter. You and your sycophantic minions. Twenty points for causing a disturbance."

"Professor Snape, do accept our apologies. We were on our way to our first lesson when Mr Malfoy stopped us; he wanted to discuss the advancements of wizarding medicine. Of course you wouldn't take points from him, we wouldn't expect you too." He smile grew cold. "One would hardly expect a Hogwarts professor to be impartial." The smile grew cold. "Would we?"

Severus Snape drew himself up to his full height and sneered, as he grew red with anger. He was beginning to open his mouth to what the assembled students, who were gaping in shock, knew would be a truly terrifying rant, when a new voice interrupted before he could begin.

"Ah, Severus, I hope I am not interrupting. I was on my way to my office when I couldn't help but overhear. It is only fair that if you deduct points from one house, you must deduct them from your own if both houses were involved in a discussion that was causing a disruption." The headmaster sounded only the smallest bit amused. It took a trained ear to spot it beneath the level of distant bemusement that he normally carried.

Professor Snape paused, while he turned, to what Harry guessed was somewhere between puce and magenta, before he collected himself. In a barely audible tone he sneered. "Of course Headmaster. Four points from Slytherin. There was only one Slytherin involved after all, and five Gryffindors." He spat the second house's name out like an insult before turning and leaving the hall in a swirl of his robes. His face a thundercloud of fury as the robes swirled dramatically.

"I still say," Harry murmured absently "I need to get him to teach me how he does that."

* * *

Spilling into the classroom, the five travellers were still giggling furiously. At the expressions on both Snape and Malfoy's faces. 

"MOONY!" called out Ron. "You should have seen it. It's a new Hogwarts record. Snape took points from Slytherin!"

Professor Remus Lupin shook his head faintly and smiled. "Indeed. What a historical day it is indeed. So, I know you took the time to read over my class notes during the holidays. What do you think of what we have covered so far?"

Hermione grinned slightly. "It does look very comprehensive Moony, but you have missed out one particular lesson that needs to be addressed. I would be remiss of our old teacher not to ask you to give a lesson on it."

Remus blinked. He'd been over his class notes a few times since he started teaching five years ago. "I have? What area?"

"Wand care" her smile grew positively evil, tinged with humour. It was a smile that he knew well, after all, he had worn it a few times himself while he was at school.

"Ah, I do believe that I understand. It explains something of the activity this morning. Well, I happen to agree." He looked up as students started entering, most of them giving looks of awe, hero worship or fear towards the five. "I think it would be a good idea to cover it today."

Waiting till the bell for the start of classes rang, Remus turned and looked out over the class. He carefully kept his expression neutral. "Today, we will be covering a different topic to what I had planned. I know that some of you were looking forward to studying Dementors and the Patronus spell, perhaps we can cover that on Tuesday." The Ravenclaw's seemed to collectively slump. "Today's lesson is dedicated to a topic that was taught to me by an old mentor, Alastor Moody. We will be covering wand care." Turning slightly, he looked over the class. "A well maintained wand is vital to good performance. If you look after you wand, it will never fail you. Which leads to the topic of polishing. You should all polish your wand regularly. The oils contained in the polish, when rubbed in properly, accentuate the flow of magic through your wand as well as maintaining its integrity and preventing wear and tear. Now, obviously some of you polish your wand more often than others." It was a tribute to the strength of will of the old marauder that he was keeping a perfectly straight face and tone of voice. Not allowing a hint of his amusement to show through. Most of the class wasn't so strong. Sniggers and giggles as well as blushes could be seen and heard.

"Mr Malfoy, when did you last polish your wand?"

For a moment, the entire class was silent. Faces went red with the effort of suppressing their laughter. Draco went bright red in fury at being singled out like this, mixed with embarrassment.

"….." The mouth opened but nothing came out.

"Obviously you must polish your wand regularly, for it to be in such fine working order, why don't you come down to the front of the class and demonstrate your wand polishing technique." Remus' looked and sounded perfectly controlled. The same tone of voice he used for the lessons on shield charms. The same calm controlled manner he used when he called for volunteers to demonstrate counter curses.

Blushing furiously, Draco made his way to the front of the class where Remus had pulled a cloth and bottle of wand polish, Olivander's finest, from a drawer, which were handed too him.

"Now class, can you please have some decorum? I'm sure that some of you may find some juvenile humour in this, but really, most of you are of age and are classed as adults; please try to act like it. Mr Malfoy, if you would care to begin?"

Hand trembling with both embarrassment and suppressed rage at being singled out for this humiliation, Draco took the polish and dabbed some on the cloth before gripping his wand, sneering and beginning to run his wand with the cloth. Then he froze. The class froze. Remus didn't even blink, the fact that he had his back to Draco may have helped, as he hadn't seen the wand transform. Where once was a proud, yet elegant oak shaft was now 12 inches of bright purple phallus. It would be an understatement to say that the class dissolved into laughter. Draco purpled with fury. His grey eyes flashed with burning rage. A glass window in a display cabinet shattered under his uncontrolled magic. However the rage was short lived as, with a yelp, he dropped the 'wand' onto the desk and looked at it in confusion and fear and the 'wand' seemed to pulse and twist while a high pitched 'bzzzzzzzz' emanated from it as it vibrated itself off the desk to drop onto the floor. To the now uncontrollable laughter of the class.

Remus fixed Draco with a penetrating gaze. No sign of humour visible on his face. "Mr Malfoy, does that happen every time you polish your wand?" Remus walked over and looked at the innocently vibrating phallus then cautiously picked it up. "Hmmm, 12 inches, very bendy and ribbed for her pleasure." Not even a hint of amusement broke through his voice, though Seamus seemed to be suffering some kind of fit as he lay on the ground, gasping for breath while laughing hysterically. "Is this some kind of joke Mr Malfoy? Some kind of perverse attempt at ribald humour?" A note of stern, authoritive disapproval made itself know. It was what Remus had mentally dubbed, his 'Professor McGonnegal voice'. "Because if it is, then I regret to inform you that I don't find it the least bit humorous. That will be twenty points from Slytherin, Mr Malfoy and a weeks detention with Mr Filch, for such a puerile attempt at lowbrow comedy. Now, go and sit back down and take your," He let his lip curl in a parody of disgust. "Wand, with you."

Shame and Fury wared upon Draco's face as he made his way back to his seat. Trembling violently, he managed to not only knock over his inkwell, but accidentally kicked his neighbours desk as well, resulting in Pansy giving a shriek as ink ran across her desk to spill onto her. This of course resulted in even more attention being given to him, another twenty points for vandalising another students work and yet another weeks worth of detention, this time with Hagrid. In the end it was too much and he bolted from the class in shame.

"Well, now that the interruptions and vain attempts at comedy are over." Remus looked over the class, most of whom were still red faced, some were hiccuping as they attempted to control themselves. Seamus was whimpering in pain while still giggling. "Perhaps we could move on. I see we have our new students with us, perhaps one of them could give us some pointers?" This time a hint of a smile did manage to crack through; his own eyes were misty with tears of mirth. "Mr Longbottom? Mr Potter?"

Harry smirked faintly, and stretched with catlike grace. "Cant really help you there professor, you see Ginny and Hermione usually take care of polishing my wand for me." He grinned a lazy grin "It's such a good feeling to know that it's in such capable and gentle hands."

"Can't help you either Professor" came Neville's soft voice that seemed to carry. "My technique wouldn't work for anyone here, because I need significantly more room than anyone else, it's not so much a wand, as a staff and being so much bigger and thicker, it not only needs two hands to control, but I need a completely different polish for the knob on the end."

Utter silence.

Lavender was staring at Neville with undisguised lust. Seamus was choking and it seemed that he would need some sort of medical attention soon. Susan Bones was so red that she could have been accused of supporting Gryffindor. Remus was shaking faintly.

"Yes, well, I do believe that should be all. I want two feet by Friday on the importance of wand care and at least three examples of magical accidents and failure due to wand failure. Class dismissed." Remus' voice was a tone higher than normal. He waited, leaning on the desk, until everyone had filled out before he curled up, bent over, laughing hysterically. This was a memory to show Padfoot.

* * *

Message from Finbar: Hmm, took longer than I thought to write that chapter. It really did seem like the perfect Hermione designed prank. Complex transfiguration, enchantments keyed to activate under certain conditions. Throw in Ginny and Harry's ingenuity with Neville's subtlety and you have a nice little prank. Good to see that Moony knew to retain his role as the 'straight man' 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not mine, It belongs to She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the Corporate monolith. I own nothing of theirs.

People seemed to have enjoyed the prank idea. However, for clarification. It was Hermione's idea. After all, who else would make use of high end transfiguration in a prank. Ginny would have had it happen once. With Hermione doing the spell work, Draco can still cast spells through 'it'.

* * *

They had been back at school for a week now and had discovered some interesting things. For a start, noone knew about the Room of Requirements, so they had turned it into their work out area. Truth be told, after a week back, Harry had noticed that he was getting lazy and had casually mentioned that perhaps Hermione and Ginny might be getting a touch softer in the thighs. Now, every morning at five am, they turned up at the Room and worked out for two hours before breakfast. It felt good to Harry to know that he wasn't going to fat now the war was over. More importantly, it allowed him to keep his eye in. After jogging, swimming and weights, they would have a five way free for all duel, with the standard rules of engagement being 'no unforgiveables and nothing that would put anyone in the hospital wing for more than overnight.' Which meant he wasn't slowing down at all. He had discovered that most of the classes were easy, and for those that weren't, Hermione already knew it all and could coach them. As the five made their way back to the tower, dripping with sweat and dressed in their standard workout clothes. Which in this case was a dragonhide vest that was moulded like a second skin, and matching knee length under-pants, with some board shorts over the top, Harry pondered. All in all, life was good. People were still getting over their nerves towards them, which was understandable and it was wearing off slowly. Soon, people would be able to relax around them.

"Chaos Reigns" he said to the Fat Lady as they approached the portrait hole. She nodded and swung open. As they made their way into the Gryffindor common room, Ron and Neville allowed their guard to drop slightly. After all, how much danger could the group of gossiping girls off to the side represent? Neville undid the straps on his chest armour, as did Ron, shrugging it off with a hint of relief as they prowled across the room, deep in conversation.

"I keep telling you Paws, you keep your elbow too high. If you don't drop it tomorrow, I'm going to have to break some of your ribs to prove the point, you know?" Neville sounded more amused than anything, not paying any attention to the other students as they entered their private chambers, leaving a shell shocked crowd of Gryffindors behind them.

"Sweet Merlin" Pavarati breathed in admiration from where she sat with a cluster of 6th year girls and Lavender. "Did you see those muscles? Those boys are GODS!"

Lavender, red in the face, her jaw still dropped, was staring at the now closed portrait door they had passed through, and just nodded.

"And they had Tattoos, all of them, even Ginny and Hermione! Magical Tattoos! Those muscles! The way they moved! I am going to get my legs around one of them, soon, if it's the last thing I do!" Pavarati fanned herself with a sheet of parchment as one of the sixth years nodded enthusiastically.

"What were the Tattoos?" Another sixth year asked curiously. "I didn't recognise the big shields on their backs."

Pavarati grinned slightly. "You probably wouldn't. They were family crests. Neville had the Longbottom shield on his back and Ron had the Weasley shield. I'd guess Harry had the Potter shield, but he still had his vest on. They both had the Gryffindor crest over their hearts and a Phoenix on their right arm. Harry also had another crest on his left arm but I am not sure what it was. It looks familiar though. Hey Lav, what family has a stag, wolf and dog as their heraldry?"

Lavender didn't move, she may not have even blinked. Indeed, a small amount of drool was pooling in her mouth.

"Or not. I can't wait to tell everyone about this. What the hell did Hermione have? It looked like Celtic knotwork from mid-arm going up under her vest, and what were those vests?" A puzzled look now graced her face.

"Oh those? I've heard of those." The other 6th year finally spoke up. "My dad has a set, it's Dragon Hide under-armour. Has to be custom made, it's fitted for only one wearer and has all sorts of protective enchantments. My dad has a set that he wore during He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's rise. It's expensive as anything, a few thousand galleons a set. Only the best duelists and Aurors wear it." She seemed very proud that her father had a set.

A stunned silence settled over the small group. Good looking, powerful and wealthy. It was a very tempting combination.

Lavender just moaned slightly.

* * *

Breakfast was tense for the group. Ron, Neville and Harry weren't sure why more than half the girls in the school were staring at them and it made them twitchy. Ginny and Hermione just seemed resigned.

"Do you think we could scare them off?" Ginny seemed more than a little curious as she spoke to Hermione. "You know, some sort of first strike? Stake our claim?"

Hermione shook her head. "I doubt it, you remember what some of them were like. If we don't do something soon though, the boys won't be able to go anywhere without being mobbed." She sighed softly. "Bloody hell, I can't believe I forgot about something like this."

"Like what Brains?" Ron looked curious.

"Ah, well" Hermione blushed slightly. "What do you remember about when we went back to our rooms this morning?"

Ron puzzled it over for a moment. "Dunno, seemed fairly normal to me."

"Yes, that was the problem. Let me put this another way, you boys are fairly well built, something I greatly appreciate by the way. You, all three of you, are muscular, attractive and dangerous. You and Neville also had your vests off and were only wearing your shorts as you passed by the sixth and seventh year girls from our house." She smirked faintly as realisation began to sink in to the three boys. "Now, do we remember what they were like back then? I can pretty much guarantee that they've told the rest of the school by now. So, can you see what the problem will be?"

Neville blushed furiously and stared fixedly at his plate. Ron just blinked and Harry groaned. "Oh Merlin, Susan Bones just winked at me! What do I do?"

Ron suddenly went very red and became as fixed on his breakfast as Neville. "Terry Boot just winked at me! What do I do?"

That was enough for the other four to start laughing. Ginny giggled for a few minutes before laying a reassuring hand on his arm. "You know Ron, he always did have a crush on you. Perhaps you could ask him what he wants?"

Ron calmly moved his plate to the side and then there was a rhythmic thudding noise as he beat his head on the table to the others laughter.

* * *

It took a few harsh glares from Hermione and Ginny, three Bat-Bogey-Hexes, two banishing charms and in the end, a protective shield before the large group of girls that wanted to 'talk' to the Boys was fended off. Leaving the five to stagger into the DADA classroom amid gales of laughter from the girls.

"I can't believe it!" Neville looked scandalised. "Susan was always such a nice girl, what happened to her?"

Ginny smirked. "She met someone who is 6'4 tall, muscular, has tattoos, can out duel an Auror and blushes when she winks at him. I think she might have more than a bit of a crush." Neville went, if it was possible, even redder.

"I think I almost preferred it back in our world, at least I knew how to handle things there. I'd give an order or hex the bad guys."

Finding their seats at the back, they chatted amongst themselves while waiting for class to start. Which is to say; the girls heckled the boys, who responded by blushing a lot. Remus, at the front of the class, was laughing quietly to himself. 'If only Prongs could see his boy now. All grown up and being mobbed by girls.'

"Alright everyone, I know you want to get started, so here is what will be happening. We have covered Dark creatures, shields, curses and counter curses. You all know how to cast what you need to pass your NEWTS. Now, however, comes the fun part." His smile grew predatory, causing not one, but three separate Hufflepuffs to squirm nervously. "I've decided, with the headmasters permission, to have a little competition. I'm sure you are all looking forward to that?"

"What kind of competition?" Harry called out from his seat at the back of the room, his paranoia making itself known.

"Glad you asked. "Moony grinned brightly. "A duelling competition. Names will be drawn out of a hat, you will duel each other, and the winner gets a prize. The duels are going to be held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the great hall. Anyone who wants to can attend." His toothy smile was not returned by the class, particularly not the five.

"Uh, Professor?" Hermione was the first of them to speak. "What are the rules?"

Remus nodded in reply. "Good question. The rules are simple, No Illegal spells. I have a ministry list of outlawed spells available to those who want to peruse it. If you keep to what you learned here at Hogwarts you will be fine. No potions. We will not allow any performance enhancing potions and, you will be tested for them before each duel." Remus did not miss Draco Malfoy's slump. "Aside from that, you are free to call for your own limitations so long as they are agreed upon before the duel and approved by myself, the Headmaster and the Ministry Auror that will be present as a judge. The terms of the duels are to surrender or until one of the contestants is unconscious."

Justin Finch-Fletchly raised his hand. "What about armour and protective items? Some of us simply can't afford such items and it hardly seems fair for some to have them and others not to."

Remus nodded. "Agreed. No armour or protective items are to be allowed." Draco slumped a bit further. "I know that some of you have access to it and it wouldn't be fair. Normal cloth robes, with no protective enchantments will be the dress code." He looked around and grinned some more. "So, if there are no further questions, I will draw the first few matches. Please bear in mind, that you will be judged and marked for this class, not just on how you perform overall, but on the tactics, spells and strategy you use, so even if you loose, you may get a higher overall mark than someone who just shoots stunners."

He strode over to the sorting hat, which was lying on his desk. "Professor Dumbledore has loaned me the use of the Sorting Hat, for the purpose of drawing the matches." He placed a handful of pieces of parchment in the hat and stepped back as it pulled itself upright and began to speak.

"Hmmm… Ah, yes, duelling, eh? Well, we'd best give everyone a chance in the first round. So, the first match will be, Pansy Parkinson against Ginevra Weasley. The second, is Susan Bones against Padma Patil and the third for the day is Neville Longbottom against Lavender Brown."

Silence met the class for a few moments till the whispers began. Remus let them draw out for a few minutes before speaking. "Well, as everyone knows where to be, the Great Hall, after lunch on Saturday and Sunday. You wont be having any DADA classes until the tournament is over, to give you all time to prepare. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to come and visit. I will be in the classroom during normal class times if anyone wants advice. Otherwise, good luck to one and all."

The class broke out in noise once again as people began to file out. The five all grinned at each other.

"Finally, a chance to cut loose." Ron was practically bouncing with joy. "Hey guys, lets agree, when we face each other, no unforgiveables and nothing immediately fatal. Otherwise, anything goes?"

"I'm not sure, Ron." Hermione looked pensive for a moment. "I don't think we need to show off too much, it's pretty much certain that one of us will win."

"Don't be so certain of that, Mudblood!" The scorn filled voice of Draco Malfoy caught their ears. Turning they saw him standing there with a simpering Pansy. "Any Pureblood of worth will be easily able to beat scum like you."

The sudden burst of laughter left him more than a little confused.

"Oh Malfoy, it's so funny to hear you say that. Want me to prove you wrong?" Hermione's voice was filled with malice. "Hey Professor!"

Remus looked up from his desk curiously. "Yes Miss Granger, what is it?"

"Would we be able to have one the duels early? Malfoy here thinks himself so superior and, has just insulted me. Now, I don't particularly like his tone of voice, so," she turned and slapped Malfoy on the cheek with a glove and dropped it at his feet. "He's just been challenged. What say you change things a bit and Draco and I have our duel tonight, in the Great Hall, after dinner? You can handle a poor helpless mudblood can't you Draco?"

Draco fumed for a few seconds and then nodded. "Tonight then." Then he turned and was leaving the room when Ginny's voice caught up with him.

"Oh Malfoy? Care to make it more interesting? Wands only, same other conditions as agreed upon and I've got a hundred galleons and a silver cauldron that say she kicks your pale, scrawny, misbegotten arse."

Draco froze in the doorway. He could see the gathering of not only seventh years who had stayed to watch, but the sixth year Ravenclaws and Slytherins who were due to enter class. "Agreed Weasley, I'll be glad to take the last of your families pitiful money." Then he pushed his way through the crowd.

Back in the classroom, Remus was rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Do try to go easy on him, Hermione. I have some idea of what you are capable of. Try not to injure him too much."

Hermione just smiled brightly as they left the class.

* * *

By Dinner, the great hall was abuzz with gossip. Everyone knew that Hermione Granger, a muggleborn, had challenged Draco Malfoy to a duel. For most it was a desperate hope that someone would put the arrogant bully back in his place. Indeed, as Hermione, dressed in black robes that were not school uniform made her way in, there was an almost standing ovation, something that left her blushing. To the other students, while she did eat, she was concentrating hard, with her four friends clustered around her, whispering to her almost constantly. The only sign that she heard them was the occasional nod or whispered reply.

The tension built as half way through dinner, the doors to the hall opened and in strode a large black man with a shaved head, dressed in the robes of the Chief Auror. With steady stride and an impassive face, he was the very model of an imposing Auror. To the five, it was a welcome sight indeed to see their old friend Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had taught them all duelling in what would have been their sixth year.

"May I have your attention please?" Dumbledore stood and tapped lightly on his glass with a fork. "We are very lucky tonight to be able to witness a duel, the first duel of the seventh year NEWT DADA class' competition. It has been called ahead of schedule and we have been most fortunate that Chief Auror Shacklebolt has offered to serve as the Judge of the match. The terms are to Surrender or Unconsciousness, Wands only, no armour or protective talismans to be used, no potions. Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, if you would care to make your way up please?"

Hermione stood, her face an impassive mask that some recognised as one produced through occlumancy, leaving her in control of her emotions and preventing a legilimens from reading her mind during the duel. She made her way to where Kingsley stood and waited while he quickly tested her for potions. Then he checked her over and gestured to one end of the duelling stage that has grown out of the floor while she was being checked. Draco was not so lucky, indeed he was ordered to remove not just a protective bracelet but a necklace as well as his boots, which were dragonhide. His scowl of fury was ignored by most as whispers of his attempt to cheat circulated. When the two were ready Kingsley read the terms to them again.

"Remember, no illegal spells here. Otherwise, you may begin when I ring the bell."

He quickly made his way back to where he would sit as the judge and, after activating the defensive shields that would protect the audience, he rang the bell.

Draco had known for years that he was quick. He was the seeker for the Slytherin team, he was the best duellist in his year and was more than a little surprised, when by the time he had even raised his wand, not one, but two separate spells were streaking towards him from a smirking Hermione Granger. To the crowd it was a virtuoso display of fast and silent casting. Even Dumbledore was impressed. Forgoing the wand movements, Hermione had flicked her wand towards Draco and silently cast two spells while he was still raising his wand and settling into a beginner's stance. She smirked in satisfaction as both hit and he was not just silenced, but his clothes were transfigured into a dress normally worn by very young girls, in a lovely shade of pale pink.

Draco on the other hand was trying to get his first spell off. His concentration was broken by, not only the fact that he was now silenced and no longer holding his wand, but that the bright purple phallus he was brandishing at Hermione simply sent out a few feeble sparks rather than the spell he wanted. He reddened in rage as he realised how he was now dressed and what he was holding and focusing his anger he silently gestured with his wand and let fly with the most powerful bludgeoning hex he could think of towards a very calm looking Hermione.

Some of the older students and staff gasped at the use of such a dangerous spell and then gasped again as Hermione gracefully used her wand tip to bat the spell aside where it exploded into the protective shield with a shower of blue sparks that caused the shield to ripple. Wasting no time Hermione countered with a fast offensive. A disarming spell ripped Draco's phallus from his hand and sent it clattering across the stage to rest behind her. A light stinging hex caught him between the legs and a binding hex wrapped him in chains.

Draco's screams and shouts were not heard as her silencing spell made sure that not only could he not say anything or surrender but he could hear the roars of laughter of the crowd.

Slinking towards him, Hermione smirked. "Well, well, well. It looks like you aren't nearly as skilled as you pretend to be, Malfoy. Perhaps you need a quick lesson in humility?" Her eyes darted to where Professor Snape stood; Dumbledore, who was whispering in his ear, no doubt trying to stop the potions master from interfering, was gripping his arm.

"Yes, first Charms." She gestured with her wand and suddenly Draco was free. Well, free from being bound, on the other hand he was now prancing about the stage, singing, "I'm a little teapot". The students were practically helpless with laughter now as first steam spouted out his ears and then water out of one hand, in time with the song. "Now, Transfiguration." She made a few complex movements and where once was Draco Malfoy, now floated a pure white ferret. She could see Ron was helpless with laughter, tears rolling down his cheeks. Ginny, was being held upright by Harry who wasn't much better and Neville was doubled over with mirth.

"Finally Malfoy, a reminder before I give you your DADA lesson." She gestured with her wand, undoing the transfiguration and changing Draco's hair to bright pink before she contemptuously stunned him, bowed to Kingsley and walked off the stage to a roaring ovation. Colin Creevey was at the edge of the stage, clutching his camera. A light of pure adoration and hero worship in his eyes.

"I'll want copies of any photographs you took Colin." Was all she said as she made her way through the crowd, with much backslapping and praise to where the others stood, where she was grabbed and dragged into a group hug.

"Remind me never to make you mad" was all Harry could say before he started laughing again.

"Well" Kingsley took to the stage and the crowd of students tried to be more quiet, though more than a few giggles and snickers punctated the near silence. "I would like to thank our competitors and declare Miss Granger the winner." Cheers and laughter erupted once again before they quietened as the Headmaster took to the stage.

"I would like to add my thanks as well. I would also like to remind you all that the rest of the duels will be held after lunch on the weekend. The final duel, I am honoured to announce, will be attended by not just the Hogwarts board of governors, but the Minister of Magic herself has agreed to attend. As the entertainment for the evening is now concluded, would all students please return to their common rooms."

The horde of students poured out of the great hall, leaving behind a furious Draco Malfoy, who it appeared, was having some trouble having his hair returned to normal. Indeed both Professors Flitwick and McGonnegal were attempting to undo the effect with no success.

Professor Lupin was too incapacitated with laughter to assist.

* * *

Notes from Finbar: Ferret Bashing is such delicious fun. Something about it just inspires me. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Her, not me. I claim nothing, I own nothing. It's all hers and the corporate behemoth that will do unto me if I try anything.

Ya know, taunting Draco is so much fun. I'd do more to Pansy, but I've been hooked on 'White Knight / Grey Queen' by Jeconais and I've developed a soft spot for her.

What I can't understand is why Draco was sorted into Slytherin. With the kind of loyalty he displays to his father in the canon, he'd make an excellent Hufflepuff. I guess Cunning, as a secondary trait isn't vital.

I've been asked to qualify the relationships. None of the chars are bisexual or gay. Ron and Ginny do NOT sleep together. Otherwise, it's whomever they feel like. They went through hell together. They have seen each other at their very worst. Held them after the Cruciatus, after nightmares, while they were bleeding from massive wounds. The level of trust between each other is total and intimate. It's a slightly immature relationship, but it's a carry over from the wartime environment when the closest person would hold them, offer comfort from a hug, sex, or even just words. The pairings will drift apart more now, as new people enter the equation and new options become available. Why they didn't open up to any others was simple. They went through it all together, there was noone else they could trust with their hearts and souls except each other. Throw in the typical 19yr old attitude towards sex of 'it's fun!' and there you go. (Yes 19 years old, c'mon, they can travel across dimensions and not make a mistake in the time side of the space/time continuum? It's hardly an exact science you know!)

* * *

Between her display against Malfoy and the rumour going around the castle that she'd managed to beat Professor Snape in less than a second with a spell that put him in the hospital wing for a week, Hermione was now the odds on favourite to win the tournament with Malfoy's early dismissal from the competition. This was despite none of the other students having cast a single spell yet. Of course the other four were also highly ranked, the top five positions were held by them, based on rumour that they had trained together and the build of the boys.

Making their way to lunch on the Saturday, they were met with stares, glares and whispers. Ginny's confident smirk said it all, while Neville, dressed in a high neck, ankle length, long sleeved robe that made him look positively monastic, had Lavender looking more than a little nervous.

The whispers continued through lunch until Remus stood up and gestured with his wand as a duelling stage rose out of the floor.

"Now that you have all eaten, I am sure that most of you wish to see the first duels?" He paused to let the cheering die down. "Now remember, a duel is a serious event. People can and will be hurt in these. Madame Pomfrey will be in attendance, but let us hope it's nothing too serious." He smiled brightly. "Now, today's judge will be Senior Auror Wood, he has graciously extended his free time on a day off to assist us, so please, a round of applause." Remus smiled a bit as the Auror stood and blushed as he moved to the judges' position, while Ginny and Pansy moved over to be checked for any breaches of the rules. The Auror frowned as he waved his wand over her right arm but a few whispers in his ear had him nodding and the two girls took their places.

"Ready? Bow to the judge, bow to each other" They barely nodded, Pansy's face was twisted in concentration while Ginny looked impassive. "Begin"

"_Expelliarmus!"_ screamed out Pansy, who then blinked, realising that her opponent was at least five feet to the left of where she aimed. She then screamed for a moment as Ginny's reductor curse connected with her wand, causing it to explode in a spray of splinters. Many of which became deeply lodged in Pansy's ruined hand. The scream only lasted for a second as it was cut off by the stunning spell slamming into her chest, leaving her laying on the ground, out cold.

The crowd was silent for a moment, awed by the speed and lethal intensity of Ginny's curses. Both were fast, silently cast and the first had the potential to be very deadly. The seriousness of the duels sunk in as the crowd realised that among the best competitors, they weren't restricted to school yard jinxes and easily undone annoyances. This was serious. Several final year Hufflepuffs swallowed nervously. Ginny bowed to the Auror who announced her victory before her face split into an impish grin and she skipped off stage.

The five didn't pay much attention to the next duel as they quietly muttered to Neville, who was not only impassive, but also seemingly lost in a Zen calm. Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek for luck as he stood for his duel, walking up to the stage where he politely gestured for Lavender to precede him up the stairs. They were checked and moved into position. Neville holding his wand loosely in his hand, standing in a casual stance, while Lavender took up a formal position, a hint of fear and awe in her eyes. As they were gestured to begin, Neville gestured slightly with his wand and a shimmering shield formed in front of him. He then began to casually stroll towards Lavender who was busy hurling off hex after curse. All of which simply bounced off his shield. Once he was about ten feet from a now panicked Lavender he smiled softly at her and after tapping his wand to his chest, shrugged his large shoulders and his robes dropped to the floor, leaving a very muscular Neville Longbottom dressed in what looked like tight leather pants. Lavender froze for a moment, licked her lips and as he flexed slightly, her eyes rolled into the back of his head and she fainted. The crowd was torn between awe, hysterical laughter at his tactic and in the case of more than a few girls, lust. Neville ignored them and calmly slipped his robes back on before bowing to the judges and heading back to his friends, smirking slightly.

"I can't believe you did that mate!" Ron was in awe as they sat together watching the next duel. "I mean, talk about going for her weakness!"

Neville just shrugged slightly. "It would only work against her and I didn't want to hurt her."

Hermione smiled softly and gave him a hug. "Well done anyway. That has to be the most original win I've ever heard of." She grinned, "Though I don't think that Susan will leave you alone after this."

Neville just groaned softly and looked to Harry. "Your turn up there, mate. Justin Finch-Fletchly eh? Well, least you know how he works, loves his advanced shields."

Harry laughed and nodded. "Oh yeah, he's taking this seriously though, look at his face. I bet you a Galleon that he starts with some massive one like the Silver Dome"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, I'll take that bet. I'd say he's going to go for the Fire Aegis. He's always had a gift for flame spells."

Harry nodded and made his way up onto the stage to be checked. He suddenly looked at the very serious Justin and grinned evilly, his whole demeanour on of predatory hunger. Justin blanched and as soon as he was checked, quickly made his way over to his position, anxious to get away from Harry. As soon as the signal to begin was given, both of them moved. Justin's own reactions surprising Harry who was only fractionally ahead of him. Harry's wand spat a pea sized ball of light that streaked across the stage moving almost twice as fast as the common fast moving spells like the exploding hexes or a stunner. Justin had obviously been practising because a glowing shield formed in front of him. Made from what appeared to be translucent blue flames, the shield was one of the strongest Light shields known. Even the headmaster was impressed by not only how fast he got it up but also how powerful it seemed.

Harry's spell however, was tiny. It had also been seen once before by a small number of the staff that recognised it for what it was, Hermione's spell she had used against Snape. The pea connected with the shield and rather than exploding harmlessly against it like an exploding or bludgeoning curse, or deflecting off like a stunner would. It rent the shield asunder. Dissolving into shards of residual magic that faded into nothingness before they hit the floor, the shield was blown apart. The moment it connected with the shield, the pea sized ball of light exploded into a ball the size of one of Neville's fist. Justin barely had time for a shocked expression to begin to appear before it slammed into his chest, sending him flying twenty feet backwards into the barrier at the back of the stage, where he slumped to the floor, unconscious. Harry immediately bowed to the judge and moved to Justin where he pointed his wand at him and muttered. Justin flinched awake and looked up at Harry, shocked into silence for a dew seconds.

"How the devil did you do that? What spell was it? I've never seen one like it before, nr heard of one."

Harry just smiled softly and offered a hand, before pulling the Hufflepuff to his feet. "Secret spell, mate, can't say. It's kind of effective though"

Justin just nodded and left the stage followed by Harry, still a bit shocked, to the polite applause from the crowd and the approving nods of the Hufflepuffs for the display or sportsmanship from Harry.

The last of the five to compete on the Saturday was Ron, who has been paired against Michael Corner. A very annoying Ravenclaw, indeed, in Ron's opinion. Most of which was the way he dated Ginny back in their fifth year a world away. Still, he mused as he made his way up, he should find a new way to win. Harry had already done the conditional stunner that Hermione had developed. Neville had won through sheer cheek, Hermione humiliated her opponent, Ginny had done a light maiming. He needed something new. A quick, whispered conversation with the Auror later and he moved to his position, smiling wolfishly. Michael looked twitchy.

At the signal to begin, Ron's off hand snapped up and as Michael levelled his wand, the Stupefy curse on his lips, a throwing knife embedded itself in his wand, splitting it in two and wrenching it out of his hand. He blinked in shock then keeled over as the stunner took him in the forehead. The crowd was silent for a moment before more than a few of the seventh years began to protest.

Professor Lupin got to his feet and gestured for silence. "Mr Weasley is the winner. The rules said nothing about what you can use, they limited you to what you can't use. You may not use illegal spells. You may not use protective items or armour. You may not consume potions before the duel that would affect your performance in any way. Those are the rules. There was no rule about weapons because noone raised it. These are serious duels and the use of swords and knives is not uncommon in the highest level of duelling. Now, if any of you wish to use Weapons, I have no problem with this, though that said, I will not tolerate poisoned blades or the like. If you wish to consume or use potions during a duel, you may. If you wish to use weapons, you may. Though illegal potions will not be allowed, nor will harmful poisons or muggle firearms."

Ginny pouted and called out. "What about crossbows? Siege engines? Spear Guns? Muggle potions?" The crowd looked confused.

Remus looked confused for a moment before rubbing his eyes tiredly. "No Miss Weasley, much to the relief of your classmates I am sure. I will not allow crossbows or siege engines, though how you would use a siege engine in a duel, I don't want to know. Let us simply say that no device used to propel an object is allowed. As for muggle potions, I believe I have some idea of what you mean. I will have to respectfully decline. While this is as much about winning, it is also about displaying your knowledge of the subject and what you have learnt. Mister Corner will not be marked as highly as Mister Finch-Fletchly because while he lost, he made use of a simple spell, compared to a highly advanced shield. This is your chance to show me what you have learnt and how you can apply it." He looked out over the crowded great hall. "Above all, be creative, surprise us. We've been pleasantly surprised by Justin and his shield. Harry's attack spell was one I have never heard of. Neville made use of a very valid tactic to distracting your opponent and half the crowd." He grinned at Neville who was slumping in his seat as best he could.

"Now, I believe that's everyone for today. Tomorrows first duel will be held after lunch tomorrow. Otherwise, enjoy your day"

* * *

They were given a respectful wide berth for the rest of the day. Their use of lightning fast spells and casual violence had the rest of the school cowed. Even Malfoy made it a point to avoid them, though taunts and laughter followed him around, stoking his fury until he snapped and attempted to hex a young Ravenclaw. His curse bounced off a shield that formed around the student and rebounded onto him where he immediately dropped to the ground, screaming in pain from the dark itching curse that made his skin feel like it was being torn open. Neville Longbottom casually stepped out of the shadows of a suit of armour and smiled at the student before heading off. The crowd, more than a bit intimidated, also fled, leaving Crabbe and Goyle to help the incapacitated Malfoy to the hospital wing.

The next day, the great hall was packed as the entire school turned out for the next round. Senior students who were competing were tense, they were nervous; they were praying they wouldn't be competing against any of the five.

The first match announced was between Pavrati and Susan Bones, who obviously was not going to let Hufflepuff's reputation for mildness get in her way. Rather, she made use of a steady and creative stream of curses and hexes that overwhelmed the Gryffindor until she was knocked out by a bludgeoning hex to the head. Madame Pomfrey was not impressed, though the rest of the crowd was delighted.

When Ginny was called to compete against Gregory Goyle, the crowd burst into laughter. Ginny bounced onto the stage and grinned evilly while she was checked. It could be said that this duel was one of the more painful to watch. Upon being given the leave to begin, she conjured a shield and started muttering incantations. Her wand dipped and wove through the air in a series of highly complex movements that had most spectators more than a little confused. She ignored the weak hexes and curses that bounced off her shield as she wove her magic until, with a flourish, she released her spell. It was with a loud 'thud' that the Ballista landed in front of her. It's arms creaking under the strain due to being fully drawn. A large, barbed spear sat ready to be launched.

"Are you sure we can't use siege engines?" Her delighted tone left more than a few students giggling as the Auror boggled.

"No, no siege engines Miss Weasley" Remus Lupins tone was resigned. "Now get rid of it."

Gregory Goyle however had not pressed his advantage while she was talking, rather he had frozen in abject terror with an expression that could best be compared to a rabbit as it gazed at the approaching lights of a truck as he looked at the spear, aimed at him. Ginny sighed dramatically and banished her ballista and she immediately began conjuring arrows, while casually dancing out of the way of the fumbling attempts of Goyle to hex her with what were to him, dangerous spells. She casually avoided the Stunners and bludgeoning spells while the crowd cheered and cat called. Finally she turned and smirked evilly as she gestured with her wand. At least forty arrows rose from the ground, all of the barbed heads aimed at Goyle who suddenly looked afraid. Ginny waved merrily to him and banished the arrows in his direction. Goyle may not have been the brightest of fellows but even he knew death when he saw it hurtling towards him. He frantically waved his wand and managed to squeak out a terrified "NO!" before the arrows impacted, lifting him off the ground and hurling him back until he was pinned to the shield. Forty arrows and not a single one of them pierced anything vital, rather he was now pinned, spread eagle by his clothes, a large wet patch slowly growing on the front of his robes. Ginny sauntered forward and with brutal force, slammed her fist into his jaw with a resounding 'CRACK', before bowing to the Judge and heading off stage, leaving a very unconscious Goyle to slump to the ground.

The next match was Neville, who had been sent against Theodore Nott. The Slytherin had a cool mask of self-confidence on. Not even his eyes betrayed any sign of fear. Neville just appeared calm, even faintly amused. Once they were checked, including the Auror having a whispered conversation with Neville, they took their positions. When the Auror was beginning to announce the start of the match, Neville calmly reached into his robes and pulled out a sword. Of course to call it a sword would be like calling Versailles a building, or the Atlantic a body of water. Technically true but understating things. The blade was over seven feet long. It was serrated with cruel looking teeth. The tip was hooked at the brutal point. Savage hooks and spikes ran along the back. The cross piece was spiked with barbed points. The handle was three feet long and the pommel stone was a human skull with glowing red eyes. Neville held it out and brandished it with ease. With only one hand.

At the signal to begin, Nott calmly looked at the judge. "You have to be kidding me? That thing is allowed? I thought siege engines were banned?" Laughter rang out at his dry comment. "No, seriously, you expect me to fight against someone wielding that monstrosity? I was sorted into Slytherin for a reason; I'm not stupid you know! I surrender." With that, he calmly holstered his wand and bowed to the judge. Neville however just slipped the impossibly large sword back into his robes, where no sign of it showed and walked off stage to general applause.

Back with his friends, Harry looked impressed. "So that's what you were transfiguring this morning. Nice work, what was it?"

Neville just grinned slightly. "A quill. So much for the quill being mightier than the sword. I don't think I would have won by pulling out a quill."

They just laughed as Harry was called up to face Seamus. The Irishman looked a bit nervous and as they made their way up, jokingly asked Harry not to hurt him too much.

Harry just smiled. "Don't worry Seamus, this plan doesn't require me to cast a single spell at you." Seamus' face fell as he tried to work out what was going to happen.

Once they were given leave to begin, Harry stepped to the side as he put up a glowing blue shield that flickered with eldritch light. This kept the barrage of spells from Seamus off him as he emptied out a pouch of marbles onto the ground. Then, with a wave of his wand the dozens of marbles were transfigured into spider monkeys. Each dressed in the classic green jacket and black hat of the leprechauns. Seamus blinked and stopped casting in shock. The crowd giggled and then blinked as the clearly voiced "Get him fellas" was uttered. Seamus gave a shout of dismay before he was rapidly buried under the wave of screaming green clad monkeys, that ripped his wand from his grip, tripped him and then began to pound on him with small fists. At his bellow of pain and surrender, Harry flicked his wand and undid the transfiguration before summoning the marbles back into his pouch. He grinned as he helped Seamus to his feet and offered him a flask. "Restorative potion?"

Seamus winced and took a swig before beginning to cough. "Bloody hell, what is that stuff?"

Harry laughed as he helped him down from the stage and over to Madame Pomfrey. "It's concentrated pepper-up cut in half with firewhiskey. It's got a bit of a kick but wakes you up"

By the end of the day, the final eight had been announced. Next week, the five would have to fight each other and Susan Bones, Daphne Greengrass and Terry Boot were not looking happy.

* * *

A figure dressed in robes of pure black that seemed to suck in the light stood, backlit by a guttering torch. Before him, a dozen figures, clad in black robes with a scale pattern stitched in with grey thread knelt. Their faces bowed as they paid homage to their master.

"Years ago, my faithful Talons, there was a dark lord of promising power. Known as Voldemort, he gathered together one of the greatest collection of Dark Arts materials ever known in the wizarding world." The figures words were velvet wrapped around death. Imperious, noble and commanding, yet cultured. "He was weak though. He was tainted. He was impure. He tried to hide his filthy muggle heritage and issued lies misdirections as he claimed to be the last living heir of Salazaar Slytherin. However, in the end, his weakness shone through. His pathetic plans and lack of true talent meant that he was defeated and is no more." A dry chuckle issued from the figure as it beckoned with his hand and a pair of rotting corpses shuffled into the light of the torch to flank it. "For all his posturing, there was one barrier he never had the power to defeat. One last obstacle that he could not work around. He never conquered death. I am Lord Mortis. I am truth. I am purity. My blood stretches back, pure and undiluted with muggle filth to before the time of Merlin. I have crossed the final barrier. I have studied lost and ancient tomes and now, the dead serve me. Step forth now, my loyal Talons and receive the mark of my blessing. By it shall you know each other. Through it shall your purity of blood, of mind, of soul be known. I shall grant you power. The wizarding world is weak, corrupt, tainted. Soon, very soon, shall they know my wrath and they will be cast down to be naught but slaves for their corruption of our pure ways." Behind him on the wall, an image of a skeletal dragon with outstretched wings lit up with an unholy red colour.

* * *

It was in the early hours of Wednesday night when the alarms in the Ministry went off. The nightwatch personnel at first froze and then, with a mounting feeling of dread, they analysed what they had found. A large concentration of dark magic, including the Killing Curse.

They immediately contacted the Aurors who were on the night shift. These were not the best the Ministry had to offer; there had been peace for too long, they had become lax. Rather, these were the youngest graduates, doing night shift for some extra galleons. These were the oddballs who didn't like having to deal with the public.

Five minutes after the alarms had gone off, they portkeyed to a nearby location and apparated closer. The oldest among them, who was just over a year from retiring, was the only one who had seen anything like it. A family was dead. Their bodies torn apart, maimed, mutilated and defiled. An illusion of a blood red skeletal dragon hung over the house of William and Elizabeth Creevy. Half of the Aurors were sick, of the rest only the veteran didn't look ill, rather a grim horror had settled over him.

"Merlin's Beard, it's happening again!"

* * *

By the morning, those in the ministry who needed to know did. Arthur Weasley was briefed and in turn informed Minister Bones. The Unspeakables were placed on alert; the Auror department was given three missions. Find out who did it. Find out what they did and damn well find out anything they could about it.

Nymphadora Tonks had only graduated the Auror Academy three years ago but had quickly been promoted to full Auror status as her Metamorphamagus ability allowed her to slip through all levels of society with different identities. Meaning that she was the best intelligence gathering resource they had. Currently she was using a disguise she had set up two years ago. Now it was finally paying off. Athena was a young, not particularly attractive slattern who worked Nocturne Alley. Rumours of her status as a pureblood had drifted through the strata and her more than passing resemblance to Rookwood, the disgraced unspeakable, had meant that the talk was never too loud. Her quick wand, disregard for the 'red robes' as the Aurors were known, and knowledge of dark curses, meant that she wasn't bothered. Indeed, it was the gossip among the other 'ladies of negotiable virtue' that she valued. Currently, she was in a tavern that made the Hogshead look reputable, sipping mead with a few other working girls and what she heard, scared her. Rumours of pureblood networks, allied to a new dark lord. Necromancy and worst of all, a new reign of blood supremacy rhetoric. No, this was indeed, not a good thing.

* * *

A/N: Well, the meat of the plot is finally revealed. Yes, It's another dark lord. I'm sure you can guess who it is. Don't worry if you cant, all will be revealed soon. Stay tuned for more fun and games. Neville V Susan Bones, Ron V Terry Boot, Harry V Daphne Greengrass and The showstopper of the round, Hermione V Ginny.

Cheers

Finbar


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I dont own nuthin. It's all hers. God bless her for making such a cool world.

* * *

The week passed in relative peace. Malfoy was kept from harming anyone and most people now knew that he could be beaten, so all of a sudden, he was not nearly as feared as he had been before people gathered the courage to hex back. Girls occasionally tried to take some of the boys aside for 'private lessons in DADA'. Neville would blush and decline. Ron would grin and suggest that maybe after the tournament and Harry suggested that that they speak to Professor Lupin, even going so far in one case as to lead the girl to his office and politely arrange with the now confused girl, for her to have extra tutorials two evenings a week, before making his escape. The girls were left alone after Ginny put an overly aggressive sixth year in the hospital wing with a broken hip. Hermione would just smile and finger her wand. 

By the next weekend, the atmosphere was fever pitched. The Minister for Magic, Amelia Bones had turned up before lunch, with her Auror bodyguards, after all, her Niece had made the final eight.. A few reporters could be seen wandering around and there were dozens of galleons being wagered by students in some heavy betting. Hermione was still a favourite but both Ginny and Ron were also ranked highly. The fact that Neville had cast a total of one spell in two matches and it was a shield charm, meant that most were unsure of what he would be like. Harry was considered the dark horse.

The first match of the day was drawn as Daphne against Harry and while Harry was popular with the bookies, more than a few students had learnt the hard way, why they shouldn't cross the ice queen of Slytherin. Her cool demeanour and ruthless methods had not made her many friends, but meant she was well left alone. They were checked by the Auror and then assumed their stance. Harry attempted to use a tendril of Legillimancy to pick up her surface thoughts, though all he could see was a wall of ice that seemed to encompass her mind. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he waited, tensed as the signal to begin was given and immediately he erected a silver dome shield. It meant that he couldn't go anywhere, but to his knowledge, only three spells could pierce it at its current strength. The Killing curse wasn't allowed and only he and his friends knew the other two. He was more than a bit surprised however when her barely legal castration hex slammed into the shield. The some of the crowd and teachers looked more than a little shocked, though they didn't have time to do much more as Harry dropped the shield and immediately counter-attacked. His wand flicked and clove the air as a volley of spells launched from its tip. Explosion Hexes, Bludgeoning Hexes and a pair of high power Cutting Curses streaked towards Daphne who didn't even blink, rather she quickly raised her own Silver Dome and let the spells bounce off. Her own shield didn't hold up nearly as well as Harry's though, the last spell of the Volley punched through the weakened shield and tore a gash across her thigh. Her return salvo was equally as harsh. A ball of purple fire was batted away by his wand tip while she calmly ducked under his arcing bolt of electricity that made the shield around the duel crackle and wobble under the power of it. Then Harry sidestepped an ugly grey-green curse and flicked his off hand. A throwing knife sunk deep into her shoulder causing her to scream and drop her wand. Harry quickly summoned it and stunned her.

The crowd had been cheering furiously. The intensity, power and brutality had gotten them worked up and money quickly changed hands while medical attention was given to a now conscious Daphne. Harry calmly collected his knife and grinned at Daphne. "Well done, I liked the way you mixed up your attacks. If you want to get really nasty, mix in a banished knife or explosive potion. Most shields wont stop a physical attack. They are designed to stop magical ones and the time it takes to transfigure a barrier allows your opponent time to attack more."

Daphne winced as she sat up and then nodded. "I know, but with your speed, you could have dodged a banished weapon. I didn't have the time to conjure one."

"Which is why you should have a few handy, just in case" He grinned. "The standard Auror grade wrist holster can be modified. You expand the wizarding space and can fit a dozen throwing knives in there. Then you have them when you need them. Of course, you'd have to break the ministry controlled anti-tampering charm on the holster, customize it to your magical signature, adapt the launching charm." He drifted off smirking a touch. "I'm sure you could give it a go."

Daphne fixed him with a piercing gaze. "Now, why the hell aren't you in Slytherin?" Harry's smirk grew slightly before he walked away.

* * *

Susan was nervous. Her Aunt, her last remaining relative was here, along with members of the Ministry and several professional duellers. She would be duelling Neville in front of them. Neville Longbottom. Bloody Hell! Not only was he the tallest man she had ever met, but even his muscles had muscles. He'd come back from the dead, incredibly good looking, modest, enormous and polite. She couldn't help but crush on him a bit. Then there were his friends. She'd known each of them before they'd vanished. She'd even cried at their funerals. Now they were back, larger than life. They showed a power and aptitude with magic that she could only dream of, not to mention that they were all good looking, well built and even Malfoy was afraid of them. Now she had to fight one of them. She'd seen how they'd duelled before; they were fast and brutal. Neville had revealed nothing about how he fought though; he'd played on Lavender's and then Nott's weaknesses. She had no idea what he'd use for her but she wasn't hopeful of predicting it. Maybe some kind of new spell, or, or, or, she had no clue! Making her way to the centre where the Auror checked her out, she noticed that Neville had a gentle smile on his face. 

"Don't worry too much, it's nothing personal." He whispered to her, before moving to his position. She didn't think she could be more nervous. He had the mind games working better than a Slytherin on a good day.

At the signal to begin, she whipped her wand out and hurled off the most powerful stunning curse she could, while he simply stepped to the side, smiled and tapped his teeth with his wand.

"_Fontis Suspiro_"

Then he changed. In the blink of an eye Neville was gone and in his place was the biggest bear she had ever heard of was in front of her and looked angry. Standing over fifteen feet tall with massive claws, it roared in primal fury, a sound that was echoed by the screams of terror from the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, Susan could see that her Aunt had gone white and was fumbling to draw her wand. With a ground shaking 'thump' the bear was closer, on four legs now. Less that a foot from her face was its maw of what, a very tiny part of her brain that was not given over to blind panic noted, were very sharp long teeth. As it bellowed it's fury at her, the same part of her brain noted that it's breath smelled not of carrion or death, but of mint. Then her mind gave up and she passed out cold.

When she awoke a few minutes later, she felt that she was being carried. Opening her eyes and looking up, she saw Neville smiling softly back at her.

"Sorry about that, I wanted you out fast and I didn't want to hurt you."

She just nodded faintly, her mind locked up still. Indeed she barely registered that she was being laid onto a stretcher or that Madame Pomfrey was clucking furiously as she began to check her out for any sign of damage. Of which there was none, aside from a severe case of shock.

* * *

Neville sat back with his friends, doing his best to ignore the way that the other Gryffindors shrank back from him as he passed them. 

"Well done Cub" Harry praised him. "Innovative. You do know that you will have to register when you finish school though?"

Neville nodded and took the offered bottle of butterbeer from Ron. "I know, I was planning to anyway, it's not like a Kodiak bear would not be noticed if it was sneaking around anyway."

The others just nodded and then began cheering as Ron exited into the duelling area with Terry Boot. Ron had his fighting face on, a mask of blankness, not even his eyes giving him away. Terry on the other hand appeared to be thinking hard. Occasionally he'd dart a look at the intimidating redhead, then look back at his hands. He appeared to be taking deep breaths, preparing himself, though some of the more devious students of body language noted that there appeared to be something of an act to this. He was hardly the subtlest of Ravenclaws.

Upon being given the signal to start, Ron immediately launched a blistering array of curses. Explosion Hexes, Bludgeoning Curses and even a trio of Stunners in a nice spread that nicely predicted the direction that Terry was diving in. the moment the signal to begin was given, Terry had swallowed and dove as hard and far to his left as he could. Behind him, the barrier shielding the spectators sparked, hummed and wobbled under the sudden brunt of hexes. Rolling to his feet, Terry ignored the pair of stunners that slammed into his chest and began casting in a smooth, pre-practiced combination. His wand whipped through the motions as spell after spell came flying in Ron's direction. Ron dove as well, while he whipped up a shield of arcing electric blue energy.

"What in Merlin's name?" Ron momentarily let an expression of shock and surprise show as he saw his stunners hit Terry and do absolutely nothing. Regaining control he concentrated and returned fire. A ball of purple flame spun through his shield, in clear defiance of the laws of magic and detonated off of Terry's shield. His wand almost seemed to blur as he began launching a continuous series of spells. Nothing too powerful, he didn't want to kill the Ravenclaw, though he was curious as to how he was standing after the stunners. Spells he knew from experience were powerful enough to knock a baby dragon cold. With a flick of his free hand, a second wand was launched from the wrist sheath and caught. Then, keeping the barrage up on Terry, who was, by now, too busy shielding and dodging to return fire, he tapped his eyes with the wand as he muttered a quick series of detection charms. Blinking a few times to get used to the new sensation of being able to perceive magic, he focused on Terry who was diving aside from a cutting curse and busy trying to erect a new shield.

"Ah, that's how he did it. Cunning bugger." Ron was impressed. "Hey Terry? Where did you get the two ounces of Dragon heart from?"

Terry grinned momentarily before throwing up a golden shield to deflect a beam of orange energy. "I've got an uncle who owns an apothecary in Marseilles"

Ron nodded and then grinned wolfishly, "You know this means I don't have to hold back don't you?"

Terry paled slightly and nodded. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Winner buys the butterbeer?"

Laughing to himself Ron nodded before twisting aside violently to avoid a bone-shattering curse. "Done." Then he crouched and seemed to accelerate as he moved. His fluid wand movements and catlike grace merged into a stalk as he closed on Terry, a torrent of spells leaving his flicking wand tip. No less than a half dozen spells crashed into the Ravenclaw, sending him flying through the air. His wand torn from his grasp and a broken leg were among the results as he crashed into the ground, out cold.

The crowd as silent for a few moments then broke out into cheers for the show they had just seen, though some were shocked into silence at the sight of the shard of bone protruding from Terry's leg. Madame Pomfrey darted onto the field, muttering under her breath about the foolishness of duelling and the need for boys to show off. Pushing aside Ron, who was crouched and checking Terry's pulse, she levitated him onto a stretcher and carried him off the field. Making his way back to his friends, Ron filled them in on the question he knew they wanted to ask.

"Dragon hide potion."

"Of course" Hermione hit her forehead with her palm. "It imbues the drinker with some of the resistance of a dragon. But how did he drink it? He couldn't have had it before the match, the Auror would have noticed it."

Ron patted her gently on the back. "He had it in his mouth already but hadn't swallowed, I thought it was nerves, but he swallowed when we were told to begin. Pretty cunning if you ask me. Wouldn't have expected it of him"

Hermione nodded. "If you get a chance, can you get a copy of the book he got it from? Or let me borrow it for a few days? I've always been intrigued as to how it works"

"Yeah Ron." Ginny smirked, "You did just agree to go on a date with him, it would be the perfect time to ask."

"Oh bloody hell" Ron sank into his seat, head in his hands.

* * *

After the Headmaster had received word from Madame Pomfrey that Mr Boot would be fine and that he only had a few broken bones, he called the final match of the day up. Ginny and Hermione made their way to the centre where they conferred with the Auror. Pulling a curved white blade, around two feet long from her hip, Ginny handed it over to the Auror with an impish grin. 

"But that's a Basilisk Fang!" was all the stunned man could blurt out in shock. Sudden silence washed over the crowd and Molly Weasley almost fainted. The pair of girls could be seen talking to the Auror, with Hermione growing increasingly irate.

"Of course I know what it means, I helped make the bloody thing. Yes there is residual poison in the fang, that's the point. I don't mind her using it, so what's the problem, we've both agreed to it and the other issues." Huffing, Hermione fixed a glare on the Auror who was white with shock.

Nodding faintly the Auror stepped back and cast _Sonorous_ on himself. "By prior agreement, both contestants have agreed to the following terms for the duel. Body armour is permitted. No Unforgiveables, and nothing immediately fatal. No other conditions."

The crowd was silent for a moment as the statement broke through, then the uproar began. Molly Weasley could be seen yelling at Arthur. Remus Lupin and most of the Hogwarts staff had paled. Filius Flitwick had fallen off his chair and Madame Bones was whispering furiously with the head of the Unspeakables. While this was occurring, the two girls moved into position. Hermione closed the final strap on her gauntlet and drew a Roman style short sword while Ginny launched her wand into her hand from its wrist sheath.

"Oh my" The Headmaster looked shocked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that Miss Granger has Philippan, I thought it had been lost."

Around him, people looked confused until the Head of the Unspeakables leant over. "Did you say Philippan? Well, this shall be interesting indeed." His calm words were belied by the way his eyes narrowed as he leant forward to watch the duel.

On the field, the two girls waited, tensed and ready while the Auror who was judging quickly made his way behind the spectator barriers. At the signal to begin, the two leapt towards each other, sword cleaving through the air at the same time from their other hand magic spat. They quickly settled into a lockstep, not two feet from each other, from their right hands, hexes, curses, counter-curses and shields sprang forth. In their left, their swords darted, licked and wove as each tried to get to the other. While both their hands moved, the pair spun, wove and ducked to avoid what would surely be crippling blows to a lesser fighter. They did not however back away. Indeed, as small cuts started to appear on their arms and legs, it only spurred them on until Hermione had to duck while spinning to avoid a vicious slash to her neck. As she came up, the balled end of her long hair that was tied in a braid slapped across Ginny's face, leaving behind a large gash. The surprise of the new weapon coming in to play was all the edge she needed to push Ginny's sword out wide and then jump, her knee connecting with Ginny's jaw a fraction of a second before a side kick send her sprawling, leaving a panting, sweaty and trembling Hermione to claim victory.

Raising her hand to Neville, he banished a vial of a purple, frothing potion to her, which she immediately uncorked and swallowed before shuddering faintly and gasping in relief as her shaking stopped.

"Basilisk venom antidote," was all Neville needed to murmur to a very interested looking Madame Pomfrey before she began checking over first Ginny then Hermione, now looking more and more angry at the very idea of competitive duelling.

"Envenomed weapons, blasting hexes, burns, cut muscles I don't know why this was ever allowed. I'll be having words with the Headmaster about this, mark my words. Now both of you will be at the very least, spending the night in the hospital wing, this isn't open to discussion, you both need medical attention, bone mending potion, restoratives, Miss Granger requires more anti-venom, not to mention a purging agent and both of you need blood restorative. In all my years I've never seen anything like this. Really, duelling at this level simply shouldn't be allowed for students, no matter what their history is like." As she carried on, she was busy conjuring bandages and securing both girls to stretchers before, without interrupting her monologue, she flicked her wand and moved the stretchers over to where Terry was reclining on his, chatting merrily with a still shaky Susan.

"Now that was a duel, I thought I might have a chance against Weasley you know, had a plan and everything. After seeing those two, I'm beginning to think I never had a chance, ah well." Terry grinned brightly then winced as he shifted his leg "At least Weasley agreed to having a butterbeer. Can't say I'm not jealous of you though Bones, I mean, did you see Longbottom in the first round? All those muscles, and he was very attentive of you, I must say."

Susan just blushed.

* * *

It was evening and the five, now relaxing in their common room, were talking idly. 

"I don't get it, why don't we bring Luna in? She's one of us!" Ron looked confused.

"It's simple Ron" Hermione turned to look at him. "It isn't our Luna. Our Luna went with us to the ministry. Our Luna was part of our team. This Luna has never learnt to control her abilities. I mean, sure, she's a bit distracted, but without the oath circle we formed, she doesn't have the stabilising to bring her out of her trance. She's been stuck there since her mother died." She sighed sadly "It is terribly upsetting, but we can't bring her in, not to the same level. We wouldn't be able to ground her, reassure her like we did. She doesn't have the training and without the focus to help her, she has no reason to change." She hugged Ron tightly. "Luna is dead. She took everything that Tom hit her with and smiled in the face of death. She led him into the trap. She volunteered, remember? She knew it was her time. I'd bet a dose of post-cruciatus that she knew that we would be leaving our reality afterwards and she couldn't come with us. No, this Luna is a nice, vague, girl who can't understand us, just as we can't understand her. I'm not saying we shouldn't protect her from the bullies in her house and the school, but we wont be able to re-create what we had."

Ron nodded slowly, obviously thinking hard. "Yeah, it's just, ya know? I owe her for Brighton and for the third siege. I know we don't owe each other and there are no debts between us, but, it's hard. I miss her."

Neville leant forward and placed a large hand on Ron's shoulder. "We all do mate. We all miss her but don't let what she did drag you down. Any of us would have taken her place if we could. She's safe now. She is with her parents and is happy. Don't begrudge her that."

"I don't, it's just. I miss her." Ron scrubbed at his eyes. "She only wanted one thing when the war was over. She wanted a daughter. That's all. It didn't matter if it was hers or adopted. The rest didn't matter, but she wanted a little girl. She talked about playing in the garden when she was little and wanted to see another child that happy. It's just not bloody fair. She went through so much and never got the one thing she always wanted." Curling up on the couch, he let Hermione guide his head onto her shoulder. Clutching at her, he let out the grief that all of them felt. "It's just not fair. We all got to see everyone again and not her. It's not fair"

A bleak silence fell over the group and they remembered what and who they had lost. Neville was hugging Ginny as Hermione comforted Ron. Harry stood and leaned on the fireplace.

"No more. I wont let it happen here as well." His eyes seemed to glow faintly as he regarded his friends; his quiet words had startled them into attention. "I wont ask this of you, but this world, our new home needs to be kept safe. They deserve the peace we never knew. If a new dark wanker wants to rise up here, then we take him down. Hard, fast and without mercy. I wont let this world slip into the Hell we knew."

The nods of his friends were all that he needed. A hint of a smile touching his lips as he picked up his butterbeer, a renewed determination filled him. He had something to live for. He had a purpose.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was fun. One more chapter with Duels to go then on with the story. I know some people dont like them, but, bad luck -smirks- They serve a purpose, or at least, they do in my deranged caffine infused mind. 

Five house points to the first person to guess what Neville's spell was..

Cheers

Finbar


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Well, I have a computer, but nothing in relation to her works.

Yes, that's right; Neville cast a breath freshening spell before shifting and scaring Susan. Now if ever there was a sign of a nice guy, that's it. Sure, he's going to scare the giblets out of her, but at least she wont have to smell bad breath . As far as I know that's the first time someone has used such a spell in a duel: -snickers-

* * *

Sunday's breakfast was a tense one. The rest of the school kept trying to sneak glances or stare at the five. Flickers of fear flashed across the faces of some due to the violence and skill that Hermione and Ginny had displayed yesterday. The fact that they all had expressionless faces was also quite intimidating.

Indeed, hidden behind occlumency masks, four of them plotted, planned and were developing the necessary tactics to defeat the others. Years of training together, intimate knowledge of each others fighting styles and tactics as well as minds, meant that there would be few surprises between each other.

The quiet murmur of breakfast was interrupted by the quiet chiming of a glass being tapped by the Headmaster.

"I am sure that many of you are looking forward to the duels that will be shown today. Indeed, it has been many years since students have displayed such talent in the field of magical combat. This skill has also caught the attention of others outside the school and as it would be churlish of me to refuse, they have been invited to attend as spectators. I understand that not only many from the Ministry but also some international competitive duellers will be attending. Due to the numbers involved, the decision has been made to adjourn the matches from the Hall, down to the quidditch pitch. Those who wish to watch should be there by no later than ten o'clock."

With that he sat down, a hint of smugness about his bearing as the noise from the students picked up.

* * *

As they made their way, with the rest of the school, down to the quidditch pitch, Harry was startled by the very distinctive sounds of a motorbike. Turning his attention, he saw the very distinctive shape of Sirius Black bringing his flying motorbike in for a graceful landing. He was flanked on either side by an exhausted looking pair of Weasley twins. Dressed in black and blue quidditch robes, they were still on their brooms.

"Sorry I'm late Pronglet" Sirius' grin was disarming as always. "I was supposed to be here before your fight yesterday but the bloody Canons had to make things difficult."

Ron was dragged out of his thoughtful step with a jerk "The Canons? Chudley? What happened?"

Sirius smirked. "Well, we played them yesterday. Midday launch, so we all expected to be home by one at the latest" His grin faded a bit "But they got lucky with a bludger. Too damn lucky really, took out our seeker in the first three minutes with a bludger to the head."

Ron looked tearful for a moment, pure hope and rapturous joy shining in his eyes. "You mean they won?"

"Won? Hell no, where did you ever get that idea? Their seeker is so useless that he couldn't find the snitch. The game doesn't end till the snitch is found. So in the end, our seeker came around, the healers fixed his skull and concussion and he re-joined the game, caught the snitch a few minutes ago, I was a bit unhappy that I couldn't make yesterday, but as the owner, I have a moral responsibility to stay with my team till the bitter end. You don't mind do you?"

Ron had slumped when he heard of the Canons, his beloved Chudley's poor form.

Meanwhile, Harry couldn't stop grinning. "I'm glad you could make it Padfoot. I didn't expect you to be here at all, so I hope you enjoy the show." He paused and looked confused "Um, I don't want to sound ignorant, but what team are you talking about?"

Sirius blinked. Slowly a light of understanding dawned and he beckoned down the twins. "Harry, old son, mate, buddy, Pronglet, pal, chum. Allow me to introduce you to two of the finest beaters in the league. Gred and Forge, who just happen to be **my** beaters, for **my** team." He smirked "When my mother died I took the Black fortune and went a little crazy. I woke up one day with blue eyebrows, no body hair, wearing a tutu and clutching a deed of ownership. It turned out that in the middle of some drunken binge I'd bought and paid for my own quidditch team. So I named them 'The Middlesex Marauders', Prongs is the symbol and we are currently sitting smack bang in the middle of the league." He smirked at Ron. "Let me guess, you are a whole reality away and the Canons still can't win a game?"

"OI!" Ron's cry of indignation was matched by his glare. "They are just re-building"

"So, Pronglet, hows it feel to know your Godfather owns a quidditch team?" Sirius preened.

"Hmm, a team eh? What else do you do?" Harry looked amused.

"Well, there is the Chaos Inc chain of joke stores. We bought out Zonkos and Dervish and Bangs about five years ago. Given the current rate of growth and so long as my two creative genius' over there don't bugger off for warmer climates, then I'd say we will be the biggest joke store chain in the world in the next five years. Then there is the Prophet, I don't own it, but owning twenty five percent means they listen to me. I have stakes all over the wizarding world. Why?" A curious look flashed across the playboys face.

"Oh, no reason, just making sure that you can afford pocket money" Harry smiled softly. "Cause Hermione and I are going to move in with you for a bit when we graduate. I didn't think you'd mind, you know, what with Grimmauld Place being so large." Harry's expression turned wistful for a moment, then he nodded. "If that's alright with you?"

The hug and cheer of joy seemed to be enough confirmation.

* * *

"So, Moony, you think this match will be any good?" Sirius Black had launched a one-man invasion of the staff and VIP box for the stands. Jumping in to sit next to his best friend, he shot a grin at the Minister and then winked at Professor McGonnegal whose lips were pursed with disapproval of his behaviour.

Remus Lupin nodded slowly, carefully choosing his words. "I think, that given their performance in class and a number of other factors, that today will see the best duels that Hogwarts has seen in a very, very long time. I might even go so far as to call them potentially spectacular."

Sirius blinked. "Coming from you, that's high praise. Hey, is that Benito over there? Merlin's beard, what's he doing here, he's ranked second in the world in the Duelling League, you'd think a school level tournament would be a bit below him"

Remus nodded "Yes, and he's sitting next to Volkstov, so it seems they must be expecting something fairly serious. I suppose though, they had heard about the new spells and wanted to see them in action."

"New spells?" Sirius blinked. "As in, not refinements, but new spells? I didn't think there had been any in decades?"

Scratching the back of his neck, Moony looked vaguely embarrassed "It's hard to say, they wont talk about them, but there is one spell that seems to be able to punch through shields and has some kind of conditional activator that turns it into a stunner. I've seen a shield breaker and some kind of jet or ray that's a stunner, but can cut through a conjured wall. I have no idea where they get these spells from but they seem very effective. Then there is their familiarity with weapons. Did you know that Miss Weasley has a short sword made from a basilisk fang? Let alone that she can cast through it?"

"A casting blade?" Sirius looked awed. "I've heard of those. Apparently the Black Family has one, though I don't dare try to use it in case it doesn't accept me and kills me or worse, ruins my good looks. Wow, a casting blade. Made from a basilisk fang, I don't think I want to know the story behind that." He shuddered. "But that just means that Harry is going to be that much better. He has to be, he's family."

Remus shook his head slightly and then blinked as an owl landed on his knee and offered him a letter. Taking it, Remus paled as he read. "Dear Merlin, I don't think I can handle much more of this."

"What's wrong?" Sirius looked concerned, worried even.

"It's Ron and Harry's terms for the duel they are about to have. Body armour is allowed. No Unforgivables. No projectile weapons. That's it. No other terms. Anything goes. They want me to pass this on to the Minister and Headmaster." Remus was slowly blinking. "Oh dear, I do hope St Mungo's has some off duty staff watching."

Sirius looked stunned. "That's it? Nothing else? Bloody hell! Well, at least they wont be bringing out Weasley's ballista."

* * *

Ron and Harry made their way to the centre of the pitch. Dressed identically in dragon hide boots pants and armoured vest, their belts had a variety of small pouches and scabbards hanging from them. Their faces were emotionless masks; their gait was smooth, fluid and predatory in nature. Everything about them screamed out to the trained eye that neither of these two was to be taken lightly.

"The terms for this duel, by prior agreement, with the permission of Professor Lupin, The Headmaster and Minister Bones, are as follows. Body Armour is allowed. No projectile weapons. No Unforgiveables. No other conditions. Gentlemen, if you could take your places." The Auror for today was none other than Emmaline Vance, who had won the chance to judge the semi-finals in a hard played game of poker the previous night. However, as she moved to her place, she was looking more than a little intimidated.

The two slowly made their way to their starting marks. As they walked, hands dipped into pouches and potions were swallowed. No less than a half dozen each. Then swords were drawn and wands unsheathed. Turning to face each other, they assumed very different stances. Harry was low, crouched like a cat waiting to pounce, his sword held high and ready. At the far end of the arena, Ron kept his sword back, holding it extended behind him as he held his wand to the fore.

"Begin!" Auror Vance shouted.

From the instant the word left her mouth the pair were already in motion. Wands spat out hexes and curses then flickered up a shield for the split second it was needed to deflect a spell before coming down to allow more spells to be cast. The pair were not just dodging spells, but also running at an almost full sprint towards each other. Their paths however were not intersecting, rather as they closed they both changed direction so they were spiralling in to each other at speed; leaping, ducking and rolling around the other's spells while they hurled off their own barrages.

In the stands, Hermione blinked for a moment then buried her head in her hands as she groaned softly.

"What is it Brains?" Ginny looked concerned.

"The buggers are showing off." Came the muttered reply. "Remember that movie we saw about two months before we came here? While we were waiting for Ron to regrow the bones in his legs? I knew I should never have let Harry pick the film. Thats it! No more Hong Kong action films for him."

"Oh." Ginny suddenly giggled "You know, they do seem be enjoying themselves a little too much, at least they wont hurt each other."

"It's not just that Ginny, look at the spells they are using!" Hermione sounded faintly despairing. "I should have known they wouldn't take this seriously."

Ginny frowned and leant forward then started to giggle again. "Oh nice, steady progression in power, they are up to third year jinxes already. Very well done, I was a bit worried at first with the opening spells, but they must have been pretty light. Oh, there we go, things just got interesting, Ron just used his first explosion hex."

Back on the field, the two had closed enough that their swords were bought in to play. This was not the refined lockstep that Hermione and Ginny had used, both the boys had levels of strength that the girls couldn't match and it showed. Each of the blows that was swung and then parried or avoided would have caused a serious injury. Their swords didn't flick like snakes tongues rather they clove the air. Harry's lighter longsword matched Ron's hand and a half blade as they strove to seemingly kill the other. While this was going on, their wands danced. Fewer spells were cast, as the other would use his wand to parry away the attempt before it could be aimed. Resulting in the spectator shields rippling and glowing as the spells that were cast exploded into them, to the shrieks of the crowd.

Ron suddenly leapt forward; his blade had been pushed wide so he attempted to club Harry with the pommel. Harry simply rolled back and as his back hit the ground, he kicked up, sending Ron flying through the air a good twenty feet. Ron twisted like a cat and landed cleanly before leaping aside to dodge the spell coming in at him. Those in the Ravenclaw stand lost sight of him from the explosion of earth that erupted where the spell had hit where he was crouched. The rest were treated to Ron doing something they would have previously sworn could not be done. His dive took him far from the point of origin, his feet glowing as he tumbled and then bounced off the spectator shield, turning his evasion into an attack. A look of shock flickered across Harry's face at this new tactic and a spell was travelling down the length of his wand when he was hit by a bludgeoning hex, square in the chest. The force of it blew him off his feet and left him tumbling across the ground to where he came to rest, flat on his back, sprawled out, his eyes closed.

Ron landed and took a moment to catch his breath. Wiping away the sweat that was attempting to roll down into his eyes, he eyed Harry cautiously. "Ya give up mate?"

He took a step back as Harry's eyes snapped open; glowing faintly with raw power he was on his feet in an instant. "Just getting started mate, time for round two." The words were chilling in their intensity and seemed almost overwhelmed by the raw power in his voice. Ron just smirked.

"Sounds good to me, just try not to rip off any bits the girls might like."

Harry didn't reply, instead, he muttered a word and his sword started to glow, softly at first, then with a pure sapphire light. Ron just grinned and tapped his sword with his wand, which began to glow with the same light. Then the two charged each other. Their sword slicing through the air as the crowd watched in awe.

"Um, Hermione," Neville sounded a bit confused as he leaned down to the girl who was currently hitting her forehead on the railing of the box they were in. "Doesn't that act as a blunting spell on their sword?"

"Yes Neville, they're showing off!" Asperity touched Hermione's voice. "Right now those swords couldn't cut butter, but no one else knows that, look at everyone." She waved her hand to indicate the awestruck faces of the students in the stands. "Right now everyone things it's some horrible spell that will probably blow great big chunks off whatever it connects with. Those two little boys are grandstanding!"

Ginny was too busy giggling to comment.

On the field, the battle had gotten more physical. Fewer spells were being cast as now the two had turned their bodies on each other, though they had moved beyond schoolyard hexes now, and were casting spells the equal of what trainee Aurors would know. A spell ducked, a blow parried and Harry slammed his fist into Ron's ribs. The response of a kick to the face separated them before they attacked anew. The raw brutality of the fight left some of the younger students in tears as now blood started to flow. Harry's nose was broken and Ron had a series of slashes across his arms and legs that left the much cut and abused pants and vest stained. Finally Harry leapt over Ron, a spell shooting out into his leg as he did so. The distinctive sound of bone breaking was heard a fraction of a second before a roar of pain was torn from Ron's lips. Harry landed and rolled to his feet to watch his friend topple to the ground.

"I give. Argghh…Merlin on a bike Harry, did you have to do that?" Ron lay on the ground, hands clutched on around his thigh above where the shard of bone was poking out of the skin. "That's going to leave another bloody scar."

Harry grinned and crouched so his friend could see his face. "Payback, for the time you hexed a manure pile with the Bludger charm and gave it a 'seek me' spell aimed at me...besides, you've broken at least four of my ribs."

Ron chuckled and winced. "Fair cop. Oh look, Madame Pomfrey is here, don't suppose you could be my personal hero and get me out of here before she gets her claws on me?"

Harry just laughed and began to limp towards where the medical supplies were, his weapons away, the most perceptive could only just hear him muttering about skele-grow and how he'd rather a good rousing dose of the Cruciatus than spending the night in the hospital wing.

* * *

A break was declared while the injured were stabilised and the Headmaster, with the assistance of Professor Flitwick, renewed the spectator shields after the battering they had received during the last duel. Students congregated in huddles, all of them discussing various aspects of the duel they had just seen. In the stands a small group of older Wizards, known to be some of the finest professional duellists in Europe, were gathered. Awed faces were the order of they day as they also reviewed what they had seen. Some of them were re-watching parts with omnioculars while others discussed aspects of the match.

"I agree Helga" A moustachioed man wearing a florid red cloak nodded. "The majority of the spells used weren't seriously dangerous, but they were treated as if they were. I'd have to say both knew what the other was doing. Their fighting styles were too similar; those two were trained by the same Master, else have spent many years training against each other. Their showmanship was amateurish but they made up for it with fighting skill."

Helga, a slender witch with the lush silver hair that only one with Veela blood can have naturally, smiled slyly. "Eet does non mean zat aye would wish to match against eezer of zem though. Zey have not just skill, but ze spells and heets zey did take, zey ignored. Zey are dangerous men indeed, despite zere youth."

The others who were listening nodded in agreement.

* * *

It took a good hour before Madame Pomfrey was ready for the next match of Neville and Hermione. Harry and Ron, after much pleading, were allowed to sit on their stretchers, rather than immediately going to the hospital wing.

The pair made their way to the Aurors who checked them over and went to their starting points. Bowing to each other, Neville drew a pair of wands and eyed Hermione, who also drew a wand for her off hand then settled into a semi-crouch, her gauntlet held out in front of her.

At the signal to begin, Neville pointed both wands at the ground and bellowed a word. Instantly, a shield of an opaque soft white formed in front of him. Hermione had not moved, rather from her outstretched hand sprang not one, but five rays of crimson light.

A quiet murmur spread through the visiting duellists, if the previous duel had interested them, it had provided few real surprises. This was wholly new, and had grabbed their attention.

"What in Merlin's Name is that?" The Head of the Unspeakables had rocked back in his seat, his face slack with shock. "She can't do that! It's against the laws of magic!"

"Actually" Dumbledore had raised his omnioculars to get a closer look. "It isn't. As Miss Granger explained it to me, her glove, while not capable of channelling the same amount of magic as a wand, allows her much finer control over the magic. I strongly suspect that what we are seeing is not five separate spells, but rather, one incredibly complex spell, in its component threads. A sort of unweaving if you will."

Indeed, the rays of light from Hermione were playing over the shield, leaving glowing orange lines in their wake. When two of the rays met, a piece of the shield seemed to be ripped out of the very substance of the spell, to fade into nothingness before it hit the ground. Behind the shield, Neville nodded slightly and aimed the wand in his left hand at the shield. A continuous stream of energy the same colour as his shield spewed out and the shield seemed to grow in strength. The orange trails faded in the wake of the rays. Hermione frowned slightly and raised the wand she held in her left hand. A muttered word later and a pea-sized ball of energy shot towards the shield, shattering it on contact. Neville calmly sidestepped the now fist sized stunner and his right hand snapped up, the rays of crimson magic ignored. Both his wands danced and wove around eachother before being thrust foreward, causing a massive gout of pale blue energy to erupt and hurtle towards Hermione who braced herself, allowing the crimson rays to fade from her gauntlet, before she slammed her hand directly into the beam of magic from Neville.

The crowd blinked as, seemingly, with her hand, Hermione caught the stream of magic, and then, as Neville leant forwards, pushing his weight behind the spell, Hermione's fingers seemed to dance. Her other hand dropped it's wand as she bought it up to brace her wrist. Her entire body pushing forward as she slowly began to slide backwards. Her fingers in the gauntlet however were not idle. Shards of magic were ripped away from the beam as her fingers dipped in and out of the ray, pulling shards and tendrils of magic with them. Neville frowned and furrowed his brow as the light of his spell seemed to grow darker. He hunched his shoulders and the beam faded slightly, only for a few seconds before Hermione's work continued, the steady unweaving and ripping apart of his spell.

Just as the spell seemed to loose all colour, Hermione smirked before she blinked and suddenly toppled over, out cold. Neville, stood there for a few seconds, catching his breath before he ambled over and cast a simple '_Enervate'_

She sat up and blinked at him in shock before colouring. Taking his offered hand, she allowed herself to be pulled to her feet before she hit him on the shoulder.

"I can't believe you did that!"

Neville grinned softly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they made their way to the edge of the duelling area. "You know Hermione, I've spent the past five weeks modifying that spell. You are the only person alive it will work on." He chuckled. "If you didn't unweave the outer spell, nothing would have happened. However, you did and it was the collapse of the outer spell, because it was unwoven like that, that actually created the stunner that was hidden inside it. The stunner didn't even exist until you made it."

Hermione stopped walking for a moment and just blinked before turning and playfully kicking him in the shin. "I bloody taught you to do that! See if I help you with any homework ever again!"

* * *

A/N Wheee!

This was a fun chapter. Hong Kong Cinema action for Ron and Harry while Hermione once again confuses the hell out of the spectators when she does her thing.

Next chapter: Snapish issues.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Tempt me not with riches nor fame. I own nothing of this. It is all Ms Rowlings work. I am simply adding a few deformed weeds to her garden.

To answer some questions: No, they weren't taking the duels super seriously. Ron and Harry were showing off, it's obvious. Sure a few bones got broken, but they get so few chances to really cut loose, which in and of itself is kinda fun. They did not however show what they could really do. Notice, no Sword of Gryffindor, Ron wasn't casting through his sword; Hermione and Neville only exchanged a few spells. These people have fought side-by-side and sparred against each other enough to know who would win on average. Each has a special role though. Ron is the up-close and personal guy. Harry is the best at one on one duels. Neville is the artillery/defence guy. Hermione is best in a lab/library/warding rather than fighting and Ginny is a scout/skirmisher. Sure, they may capture people's attention, but what are they going to do about it? This world has had peace for 16 years, two generations of peace and as a result, the simply don't have the experience that these kids have fresh in their mind.

* * *

_A New Benchmark set for Hogwarts DADA _

_By Alphonse Chondomley-Smythe_

_In a shock performance over the weekend, the quality of the Hogwarts DADA course and the confidence in Remus Lupin, a known Werewolf, shown by Headmaster Dumbledore, bore prize-winning fruit. Currently Hogwarts 7th year DADA students are participating in a duelling tourney and the levels of skills displayed has been nothing short of amazing. In a surprise upset in the first round, Muggleborn Hermione Granger, one of the five students who has seemingly come back from the dead, displayed a deep understanding of the subjects covered in the curriculum with what has been described by witnesses, as a fast and absolutely total victory over the boy who had been slated to win, Draco Malfoy. _

_Indeed, the five students seem to be leagues ahead of their peers as it being displayed in the tourney. Neville Longbottom, son of the Master Aurors, has revealed himself to be an animagus in the form of a bear. The two youngest children of the head of DMLE Arthur Weasley, Ronald and Ginevra, have also displayed remarkable levels of not just power, but skill. During their duel on Saturday, Ginevra displayed a remarkable talent with not only spellwork, but with the blade as she duelled Miss Granger, who's skill was further reinforced with her victory, despite being on the receiving end of several painful cuts._

_The duels on the Sunday however were what the audience came to see. The duel between Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley was one that left the student population and other members of the audience in shock. Some of the spells have been reported as being classed as Auror Level in skill. Indeed, such was the power of the two competitors that it took the Headmaster himself aided by members of staff no less than an hour to reinforce the spectator shields after the duel. _

_"__It was amazing" 4th year Gryffindor student Dennis Creevy stated. "I mean, they are all really nice people but to see the sort of show they put on, well, it's just inspiring"_

_The second duel, between Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom, however, was what left the more experienced members of the spectators in shock. Not only was Longbottom using two wands together to cast a single spell, but Granger, who wears a glove of unknown manufacture, was not only able to catch spells with her hand, but unweave spells as well. _

_"__It is something my department is very interested in and we shall be contacting Miss Granger about it" was all the William Folke, head of the Unspeakables in the department of Mysteries would say._

_When asked about it, Remus Lupin, the DADA professor would only comment that he was very proud of all the students who participated in the tourney and that the skills displayed only highlight what any student is capable of with sufficient work._

_

* * *

_

Draco Malfoy threw down his copy of the Daily Prophet with disgust. Not only did it laud a mudblood, but also portrayed him as some kind of incompetent, to be defeated by one such as that, it was almost more than he could bear. Indeed, the letter from his father that he had received about his defeat informed him that he should not be looking forward to the summer, when he would be suitably chastised for his humiliating loss.

On the other side of the hall, the five were relaxing over their lunch.

"I dunno Stripes," Ron looked thoughtful for a long moment. "I suppose caramel and cinnamon could work with banana ice cream, but wouldn't that be adding too much complexity to the flavours?"

Ginny grinned and nodded "Yeah, but imagine it in one of those milkshakes that Brains told us about?" Ron's eyes glazed over.

"Damn Stripes, you broke him." Harry just looked amused, and then some of the openness slipped off his face as he made a quick hand signal, "Incoming"

The others straightened slightly, hints of tension coming over them as a group of girls who had been nearby, but out of earshot for their quiet conversations, moved and pushed a very red faced Susan Bones towards them. Nervously she made her way over to Neville, who looked a bit more flushed than normal. Hermione and Ginny just grinned.

"N..N….Neville?… C.c..c…could I have a word?" Susan, not the most forward of people, was blushing furiously and looked ready to bolt. Neville on the other hand just stood and calmly offered his arm.

"I'm guessing that you'd like to have a word in private?" He smiled reassuringly before leading her out of the hall. Of course, it didn't take long for the other four to start snickering.

"Right" Hermione whipped a muggle notepad out of a pocket. "If she asks him out, then Ginny gets the payout, if she asks him to Hogsmeade or a ball, Harry gets it and if she either snogs him and runs or just runs, Ron gets the payout. Of course, I'm holding out for her stammering a lot and then asking for help with school work."

The others nodded and smirked, then turned to the doors of the great hall and waited. A few minutes later Neville strode back in looking bemused, ambling over, he touched the side of his cheek for a moment, then sat back down and poured himself a pumpkin juice.

"Well?" Ginny was practically bouncing in anticipation.

"Did you know that there is a graduation ball here?" Neville looked at his friends. "I never knew that. Apparently it's compulsory for graduates to attend."

There was a collective blink and then Ron calmly pounded his head into the table a few times before speaking up. "They want us to dance don't they?"

Hermione smirked. "It would be the logical conclusion. So, Cub, what did she want?"

Neville blushed faintly. "She asked me to escort her to the ball."

Ron and Ginny groaned as Hermione handed the small pouch to Harry. Neville just blinked, then blinked again before sighing. "It's fair, I mean, I've still have the outstanding bet over when Ron will admit that he slept with Colin."

"OI! I never did any such thing!" Ron was turning more and more red.

"That's ok Ron, we don't mind, we will still be here for you when you do admit it," Neville was doing an admirable job on retaining his poker face for a few seconds before the giggles of Ginny and Hermione broke through and the group, save a red faced Ron, broke down in laughter.

* * *

Severus Snape was not having a good day. He'd had a double class of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years in the morning and now it would take at least a week to clean up the classroom of the mess that had resulted when not one but five cauldrons exploded. The combined mixtures had resulted in a purple sludge that not just permenantly stained everything it touched but seemed resistant to all forms of magical cleaning. He'd had to attend lunch with purple skin and now most of the students thought he'd been pranked. To top it all off, he now had to teach the NEWT class that contained not only that upstart know-it-all Granger, but Longbottom as well. He'd never believed their claims of Mastery. He was the youngest master on record. It had taken him five years of exhausting almost continuous work to achieve his mastery. Their claims to have reached it at age seventeen were ludicrous. The sheer arrogance of it! They had to have stolen it from someone, likely him, or his counterpart in their reality. So not only were they invaders, masquerading as the deceased, but thieves as well.

Storming into the classroom he slammed the door behind him with a bang and marched to the front. He noticed that Malfoy was smirking, the impudent upstart was almost as bad as his father, but he at least earned his grade fairly.

"Skelegrow has one flaw, as a general purpose potion, what is that? Boot?" He glared at the Ravenclaw.

Terry blinked and thought hard for a moment. "Apart from the taste? It would have to be the time needed to brew it, Professor."

Snape sneered, his face going slightly purpler than it already was. "Five points from Ravenclaw for your ignorance. Incorrect. Anyone else"

Hermione raised her hand, smirking faintly as she did so, that she kept her occlumancy shields in place during the class just irritated Snape even more. It meant that he was prevented from hunting for weaknesses in her personality to exploit. He nodded to her. "Perhaps you can enlighten us Miss Granger," he sneered at her, the contempt apparent.

"Certainly Professor Snape, though there is more than one flaw in the potion. The first is that due to the bone needing to be removed so a new one can be grown and as it lacks a nerve-deadening agent, the process is extremely painful. Most patients have to be sedated or immobilised to prevent damage to the growing bone from the pain-induced movement. The next flaw is that it only grows one bone per dose. As such, if there are multiple bones that need to be re-grown, for example, ribs, perhaps due to a bludger impact, then they need to be grown one after the other, resulting in a significantly more lengthy duration of repair. This can also complicate the recovery process if the patient is badly injured and has other wounds that also need treating that can't be done until the process is complete. For example, a hand that is spell damaged can have up to forty-two necessary doses before the spell damage to the skin and nerves can be treated. At an average growth time of one hour per two cubic inches, this can result in permanent damage due to wounds being untreated. Finally, Skelegrow cannot be customised for specific injuries. You can't customise it to give one bone priority over another, meaning, that as the gravity and circulation principals apply, the process starts at the feet and searches out injuries from the feet up. Thus, if a patient had a leg bone that needed to be replaced and a massive skull fracture, the head wound would be treated by a second dose. Meaning that the healer would have to either leave the leg wound untreated, resulting in possible infection, blood poisoning or permanent impairment while dealing with the head wound, or hope the patient could be stabilised while the leg injury was treated. As such, that's the major flaws, apart from the. Possible improvements are, to modify it to be able to work while bone-mending potion is working on lower priority fractures. The ability to customise and specify which bones are re grown first, or at the very least, add a combination of eight crushed mint leaves and two ounces of paw-paw juice, as non reactive agents, per dose during the third stage, to improve the taste." Smugly, she leant back, a glint of amusement in her eyes.

Snapes face went, if possible even more purple as he stood there, frozen in outrage. For this jumped up nobody to criticise a potion that HE developed. To make such slanderous claims on his mastery work was more than he could bear.

"ENOUGH!" His roar of fury reverberated around the room, leaving most of the students cowering in fear and too nervous to even hold a quill. "You obviously do not understand not only the fine are of Potions or the noble art of Healing to make any such claims. Your ignorance is nothing short of incredible. A month's detention and a hundred points from Gryffindor. Now get out! You and your tag-along friend. Get out! Both of you!" Shaking with fury, he did not notice the smirks of satisfaction on either Granger or Longbottom's faces.

After the two had left, he slapped up some instructions on the blackboard and retired to his office where he could calm down in peace.

Outside, Hermione and Neville were laughing.

"Did you see his face?" Neville had to lean against the wall, he was laughing so hard. "I thought he was going to pop a vein. I mean, what did he expect, he was the one that told us the flaws."

Hermione was giggling as she sat on a bench. "Oh yes. This is perfect. I'm going to make sure he gets his for his comments." Her smile turned vicious. "I'm going to crush him for this"

Neville nodded and touched a pillar, sending a mental caress to Hogwarts before asking a favour. The feeling of amusement and acknowledgement washed over him a moment before he nodded. "Ok, I've done my part."

"You have? What did you do?" Hermione looked curious now, as the two started to walk out of the dungeons and across a courtyard.

"Well, I had a chat with Hogwarts and did you know that part of the dungeons extends under the lake? Well, she did some quick re-arranging for a few seconds and now his bedroom is full of water. None of it will leak out either. So when he opens the door to his bedroom" He tailed off, smirking.

Hermione stopped and looked at him wide eyed. "But, his books, his private library! His copy of Principatia Alchemica? His Moste Potente Potions, it's a first edition, from the printing before the ministry cut out some of the potions! They will be destroyed!"

Neville shook his head in amusement. "No. Brains, what Preservation spells does he have on them?"

"His personal library? Everything he could find, even…" she tailed off "Even waterproofing. They wont be hurt at all." She sagged in relief. "Well, that's alright then, the stupid overgrown bat deserves it then." Nodding in approval, she made her way up the stairs, heading to the Gryffindor tower.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was intelligent, in an academic sense of the word. He was almost completely lacking in moral scruples and more than a little vengeful. He was not however blessed with vast amounts of common sense. It was due to this that he was issuing his orders to Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Nott and an impassive Zabini.

"They come through the second east courtyard at about the same time every day. It's time those mudbloods and mugglelovers were put in their place." He smirked evilly. "I do not suggest you use any lethal spells, but simple bone breaking hexes or explosion curses should be enough. You all know where to position yourselves. When they get to the particular flagstone I've indicated, we all fire, then evade out of there. We meet back at the common room and have our alibis. Right? Remember, we just want to target Granger this time, we can get the others later."

Crabbe and Goyle grinned maliciously and nodded. The group then split up and went about their business.

* * *

The five were walking down one of the cloisters in the east wing, on their way back from a Charms lesson when Neville froze. A curt hand movement and the other four were instantly in position around him with their wands out, eyes searching.

"Problem. The next courtyard is an ambush. The white bully is going to try to attack us; there are six of them. Brains is the target." He paused and seemed to stare off into space for a moment." Ok Streak, Malfoy will be up one floor and left, Crabbe and Goyle are disillusioned and will curse from behind from the ground level. Pansy is four floors up and on the right with Nott on the same level and he will shoot from behind. Interestingly, Zabini will be ground floor and dead ahead. I guess he's the only one with honour enough to come head on."

Harry frowned and thought for a second then nodded. "Right, Stripes, disillusion, transform and get behind Malfoy, he's the threat. The moment he curses, I want him down, nothing fatal but make him hurt. I'll take Crabbe and Goyle; Paws, nail Parkinson. Brains, Nott is yours. Cub gets Zabini. We don't hex first. Use the Moony formation and Puff defense. Everyone clear?" He checked to see each one of them nod before he tapped his wand on Ginny's head, watching as she faded from view. Then only the faintest sound of scuffing and a faint blurring were the only sign of her passing. They waited for a few minutes then continued on their way.

As they walked, Neville absently muttered a word and his wand elongated. In a second, he was now using his staff as a walking stick.

"It's only logical Ron," Hermione's voice piped up as they closed on the courtyard. "The wand incantation for a summoning charm is related to that of the banishing charm. They'd fall under the same classification."

"_EVERBO!_" From the left came a hate filled scream. Less than a second later, other curses came flying in. A pair of _Reducto_ curses from behind, a Bone shattering curse from above and behind and a stunner from Nott. However, by the time the first syllable had been uttered, Neville had acted and a shimmering silver dome covered the four.

Malfoy was the first to curse and the first to scream in pain as Ginny, who had been standing less then ten feet behind him, calmly gestured her wand. As her Disillusion charm faded, a lance of purple energy shot from her wand into Draco's hip. He responded to this curse by screaming in pain and dropping to the ground, clutching at the injured area.

Once the other spells had impacted on Neville's shield, he dropped it as they others responded to the attacks. Harry, wielding his wand in one hand and a notable Yew wand in the other, spun and dropped to one knee as he fired. Purple flames lanced out and roared through the air to where they slammed into the oafish pair who, now singed and burnt, started screaming in pain. Ron launched a piercing hex up at Parkinson, but missed as she tried to duck behind the pillar she had been hiding behind. Sadly for her, the effort was wasted as Ron's spell impacted on the stonework and punched mostly through, resulting in pieces the size of her fist of burning rock slamming into her face. Hermione, rather than use some of her more creative spells, simply raised her wand and muttered "_Accio_ Nott" before quickly casting a cushioning charm on the ground where a shocked and terrified Nott crashed with the sound of breaking bones.

Blaise Zabini was, academically, the best student in Slytherin. He was also barely known outside of his house due to his habit of keeping his mouth shut, eyes open and paying attention to what was going on around him. He knew what having Draco Malfoy in his year meant. It meant doing what he said, or your family would somehow find itself paying for it. With the arrival of these formerly dead students, he saw his chance. He recognised not only the new power in the school, but his chance to get rid of Malfoy once and for all. A few quiet comments that Malfoy had been allowed to overhear about how these newcomers couldn't be on their guard all the time and that an ambush would usually deal with a problem meant that Malfoy had come up with the wonderful idea for the attack on Granger. However caution and not attacking like a rabid Gryffindor were also part of his upbringing. House Zambini was known for its neutrality in conflicts.

This meant that when the others had hurled off their curses, he had simply watched. The fact that Longbottom was carrying a staff when the group entered the courtyard had also not gone unnoticed by him. A _Staff_ for Merlin's sake! As he saw the spells being deflected by the shield he made his decision. Stepping out into the open from the shadow of the pillar he had hidden behind, he nodded once to Longbottom, who was watching him guardedly, then cast an _Petrificus Totalus_ on himself and quietly toppled over, locked in a full body bind.

* * *

Well, Lets play 'spot the intelligent Slytherins', hmmm not looking good.

Sorry I took so long on this chapter, I had a serious writers block. I know where I want to go on this story, I have entire other chapters written months ago, filthy great chunks of it! It's the intermediate steps that I occasionally end up beating my head against a brick wall over. Ah well. I'd re-written this chapter 4 times before finally sending it off to Beta. Sometimes the words just dont flow.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Harry Potter. It's all She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's. I just attempt to add a few unusual weeds to her Garden of creativity.

Authors Notes: Yes! An update! Sorry for taking so long (Sorry Bob). I've gotten a new job, new car and Real Life was kicking me in the face quite happily. End result, I kinda sorta lost my creativity for a bit. Anyway, On with the next chapter.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was not happy. Indeed, deep down, he was not only upset, but furiously angry. These visitors from another world, these guests in the castle, indeed, one might go so far as to make a valid claim for ownership of said castle, had been attacked. More to the point, Hogwarts had neither forewarned him nor had he known of the attack until Severus Snape had burst in, demanding that charges be laid against the visitors.

Steepling his fingers, Albus Dumbledore regarded the fuming expression of his potions master. Outwardly, he was calm, in control and benign. Despite the fact that his tightly occluded mind was racing as fast as it could.

"I see, so you are accusing these students of launching an unprovoked attack on a number of students from your House? Is that correct?"

Snape glowered. "That is precisely what I am saying. These students were not in a group or within a dozen yards of the Gryffindors, yet they were mercilessly attacked and three of them will require extensive stays in St Mungo's, as it seems Madame Pomfrey is unable to full treat their wounds. Indeed, assuming that Mr. Malfoy is able to walk without a cane again, that he is one of the least injured, along with Mr. Nott, who had no less than five broken bones. I am appalled Headmaster!" Glowering furiously, Snape turned and glared out the window, as if through sheer force of hate, he could change the weather to overcast.

"I see. I will of course, Severus, investigate this myself. Have no fear on that account. Now, while we are waiting to hear about our students' condition, would you like a lemon drop? Lord Gryffindor put me onto them and I find them to be quite magnificent."

* * *

Harry made his way into the Headmaster's office, his face a careful mask of Neutrality. 

"You wished to see me Headmaster?"

Dumbledore smiled genially and gestured to the seat that was in front of his desk. Beside him, the Heads of Houses sat, giving the impression of a panel of judges. "Indeed my boy. Please, have a seat. We just have a little matter to clear up."

Nodding, Harry sat and regarded the group for a few moments. "I would assume that this has to do with the unprovoked attack upon myself and my retainers?" A hint of anger seeped through his façade, his eyes cold as ice. "Please note that this is not something I take lightly. As everyone involved was of age, I have no doubts that the Aurors and the DMLE will be involved? Considering that this was attempted murder, involving no less than four of the Great families and a total of nine pureblood families. Of the spells used against my people by Mr. Nott, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Miss Parkinson, a total of one spell, a stunning spell, might not be classified as a Lethal attack. Only the matter that we were expecting such an unprovoked attack and were able to shield ourselves, meant that there were no fatalities. Now, what is it you wish to discuss?"

Snape, his eyes snapping with fury leant forward to glare at Harry. "You insolent whelp. How dare you accuse those poor students of such an attack? I'll be glad to see you expelled for such an unprovoked attack!"

A low chuckle, lacking in anything resembling humour, was not the expected response. "Instructor Snape," Harry leant back, his body language of indolent lack of care was bellied by the anger that was beginning to be noticed by the other professors. "Both my Vassals and myself are prepared to swear, both under oath and in public to the truth of what I have stated. We are also prepared to submit to Veritaserum, for questions only, I repeat only, in regards to that attack. We are also more than happy to submit memories into a solicitors pensive for review. Are your students prepared to do that same?" A hint of an evil smirk touched his lips. "However, Instructor Snape, it is not your opinion that matters, indeed, your attitude with regards seeking out the truth, is somewhat lacking. Headmaster, I respectfully submit that Severus Snape is unfit to act as a witness to this conversation and his position as the Head of Slytherin makes him biased against other houses. As such, he has no place in this office at this time as he is unable to be impartial."

The Headmaster leant back in his chair, steepling his fingers for a moment, the twinkle having vanished from his eyes. He quickly threw a sharp glare at Snape to cut off any outbursts. "Lord Gryffindor, I am afraid that Professor Snape has every right to be here in his role as Head of House. Indeed, I would hesitate to conduct the conversation without him present. Now, with regards to the incident, there is obviously no need to involve the ministry in what is clearly an internal matter to the school. A schoolyard brawl is all it was, quick to begin and now ended. I'm sure you see that once punishments for the parties guilty of casting the first spell, are handed out, the matter will be resolved."

Harry blinked.

"You have to be kidding me? Explosion curses from behind? Dark bludgeoning curses from ambush? Bone shattering curses? These are hardly the spells schoolyard highjinks are made from. These are battle spells used to kill. Hence our response. Miss Parkinson's curse alone should earn her expulsion. Now you propose to hand out a few detentions and forget an attempted murder? I don't think so Headmaster."

"Of course not Potter, you don't think at all. That, it seems, is your greatest problem." Snape's sneer was almost strong enough to curdle dairy produce and oozing with contempt. "Your youth and inexperience with anything outside a battlefield means you have clearly misjudged the situation and will only result in more difficulties for yourself."

Harry blinked and then regarded Dumbledore. "I once again request that Instructor Snape be removed from this conversation. If he remains here for any longer, I will consider this conversation over and report not only the attempted murder to the DMLE, but also the attempt by the Hogwarts Faculty to browbeat and intimidate me into dropping the charges. Again, backed up by Pensieve memories. I will also file a complaint with the Board of Governors and if this charade continues for another minute more, I am in danger of growing irritated. Possibly even angry." A teacup on the headmaster's desk rattled as the atmosphere grew thick and heavy.

Professor Sprout gave a squeak of surprise and clutched her teacup tighter. Professor Flitwick paled slightly and looked to Professor McGonnegal, who it seemed, remained her rational self. Snape visibly restrained himself and seemed to glare out the window, trying to change the weather again.

"Indeed, Mr. Potter," the Headmaster popped a Lemon drop into his mouth. "I don't see the need to be so confrontational. What will it accomplish? We are rational beings who seek to find the truth and rise above petty hostilities, are we not?"

Harry looked more amused than anything else "I'm sure you may be, however Mr. Snape seems to hold onto his petty hatreds, like the one with my father, in this reality, and chew on it like stale vomit as much as he can. I on the other hand, am more interested in Justice. Mr. Malfoy and his friends are of no great concern to me. They certainly are no threat. However, their insult through such an ambush cannot and will not go unanswered. They made an unprovoked attack and shall not go unchastised. They were, to a greater or lesser extent, defeated in combat, however their punishment has not been nominated. As no such effort has gone ahead I have to assume that you wish to sweep the matter under the carpet and try to pretend that it never happened. No doubt in a misguided attempt to woo them back from the Dark path they have willingly taken?" Harry crossed his arms and watched Dumbledore closely.

"Now Harry," disappointment filled the Headmaster's voice. "Don't you think you are being rather harsh? Would you willingly push Mr Malfoy towards the dark? What of his friends? We have here a unique opportunity to show them that the side of the Light is not about vengeance but helping everyone. Would you take that away from them? A chance to win them away from a life of bitterness that is caused by a rash decision now? Indeed, are you sure that your motives now aren't being poisoned by your opinions of long dead folk in another reality?"

Harry blinked once more then began to chuckle. "Really Headmaster, you missed your true calling as a politician. That load of dribble almost touched me for a second. No. Lets take an objective look at this. Free from dimensional bias. They attacked, from ambush. Four of them threw potentially lethal curses, from ambush. There was no warning from them. This is an attempted murder. This means it is a job for the Aurors. Could they have been pushed by their families towards a dark aligned stance? Quite possibly, however they are of age now. They are adults. As such, they are capable of making their own decisions. They made their choices and now they learn about repercussions. I don't particularly care about who it was that attacked us. I care that they tried to kill my friends and myself. Once it has been dealt with in a satisfactory manner, I will consider the matter closed and move past it. As will my vassals. Now, Headmaster, you could have tried the pity approach, explaining how Draco Malfoy will most likely need a cane for the rest of his life. How Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle will all have visible scaring from their injuries. You choose not to. You tried to appeal to a higher moral stance that I don't believe in. People make their choices. The Light can be just as stern and unyielding. What do you offer me, to stop this from becoming a front page article in the Daily Prophet, to stop me from personally taking this to the Ministry and implicating yourself in this?"

Dumbledore blinked. Then grew red.

"Lord Potter!" Dumbledore's eyes flashed with anger. "Are you implying that I was a part of this event?"

"Indeed not Headmaster" Harry's voice was cold. "I would leave it to the altar of public opinion as to why you would try to hush up an attempted murder. I would never dream of saying that you were involved at all. No, this is getting us nowhere. We disagree, fundamentally, on what should occur. I will not change my stance. At the very least, I owe it to my Vassals to make sure that any attack on them is suitably punished. To do otherwise, would be to openly invite the dark elements of society to attack them. Now, I am not unreasonable. You do not wish this to become a public spectacle and neither do I. I do, however, want satisfaction. I want Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson expelled and in Azkaban. I'll settle for at the very least, a two week suspension. Two weeks at the least. I want it permanently entered on their records. For all five, I want them to have all privileges revoked. No quidditch, no Hogsmead, no prefectships, no nothing. Finally, I want all five in detention, at least fours hours every day from now until they leave Hogwarts. Detention to be served with either Hagrid, Mr. Filch or Professor Sprout. That way we can be assured of neutral parties only leading the detention and that they are actually being punished. Finally, I want satisfaction. If that is the minimum punishment received, I am prepared to not go the DMLE." Harry smirked faintly. "Please bear in mind, that this is me being reasonable. If I was more irritated, then I'm sure that Malfoy would be nothing but a smear on a badly damaged wall by now.."

Dumbledore nodded slowly while, it seemed doing his utmost to casually avoid noticing, a now purpling and almost vibrating with fury, Professor Snape. "Harry, I am concerned. Deeply concerned with the level of hostility and anger you are displaying. That there is an apparent disregard for the well being of fellow students is another issue. I feel it is something that needs to be addressed."

Harry frowned. "Headmaster, we are not discussing this. We are discussing not psychology, but the simple fact that there was an attempted murder. As such, there should be punishment for those who attacked my friends and myself. If you are unable to deal with this in a proper manner, then I will have to deal with it. Now, are you as the Headmaster, going to do your job, or will you try to dissimilate and ignore this?"

"Very well Lord Potter." The headmaster nodded sadly. "If that is to be your attitude, then I will act. I will deal with Mr. Malfoy and his young friends separately. For you and your friends, however, the manner in which they acted is one I consider to be excessive and needlessly violent. They could have used simple spells to shield themselves, as well as harmless stunners and body binds to defend themselves, yet they deliberately maimed students. Is any part of this unclear?" His tone was firm and unyielding.

Sitting in his chair, Harry's face was a blank mask of neutrality. "No Headmaster, you have made your position perfectly clear. Please, continue."

He nodded and steepled his fingers. "Indeed. Now, as such, I regretfully, must levy a punishment of a hundred points from both Slytherin and Gyffindor for their parts in this unfortunate incident. I as well, will take into consideration your statements as Lord Gryffindor and as such, the minimum punishment, as you stated it to be, will be levied against all parties involved. Now, I will be sure to tell Mr. Malfoy and his friends, as I am sure, that you will inform yours. As that is all we have to discuss, I bid you good day Mr. Potter." Dumbledore turned his gaze from Harry and turned over a sheet of parchment, then began to read the one underneath. Harry sat in his chair for a few moments then stood. His face a shade redder than it had been when he entered.

"I see." Harry's eyes were like chips of emerald ice. "Rest assured, Headmaster, that my retainers and myself shall act within the letter and spirit of the Law. To do otherwise would be, shall we say, unmannerly." With a final contemptuous glance around the room, finishing with his gaze resting upon Dumbledore, Harry swept out of the office, the door gently sliding closed behind him.

Those remaining in the office breathed a sign of relief.

"Albus, I do not believe you did that!" McGonnegal's brogue was thicker than normal in her anger. "Do you realise that you just alienated someone who was potentially your biggest ally? You are punishing him and his friends for defending themselves."

Dumbledore raised a hand to cut of Professor Snape's interjection before he wearily nodded. "Indeed I do, however, I will not condemn our students to hell on earth. For every minute they are under my care I will work to pull them away from the dark. Yes, I have been soft on them, however, I remain hopeful that they can be swayed."

His ruminations were cut short when an amazed Professor Sprout upturned her teacup and the tea, frozen solid, dropped out with a 'clink' onto the saucer. "I dare say Albus, that in doing so you may have lost far more than you hoped to gain."

* * *

It was Thursday when Draco Malfoy, using a cane to limp in a rather insincere manner, entered the great hall, accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle. The lumbering pair had been given a clean bill of Health by Madame Pomfrey after having their burns, which were not as severe as she had initially thought, treated. As they entered the hall, there was a collective sigh of disappointment to see the swaggering form of the Malfoy Heir. Indeed, at the Hufflepuff table, one small second year was on the verge of crying in fear. As his grey eyes surveyed the room with arrogant amusement, he noted more than a few set jaws and people fingering their wands. 

"MALFOY!" The bellow from behind him caught him by surprise. Dropping his cane, he spun to find the hated Potter and his cronies arrayed behind him.

"Draco Malfoy! You disgusting sniveling worm." Harry was resplendent in his formal Potter robes; behind him were the other four, all dressed in identical robes in the Potter colours. "I find your actions two days ago to be cowardly, pathetic and stupid. Much like yourself. You tried to commit murder and failed due to your and your allies' incompetence. The House of Malfoy has insulted the House of Potter." Harry, smirking, drew a black silk glove from his belt. "With this act, I will show the heir of the House of Malfoy not only to be a coward, but incompetent and a failure." Then, with a flick of his wrist, he slapped Draco across the cheek. Normally, a silk glove wouldn't even leave a mark. However, Draco's head snapped back and he was knocked sideways to spin into Goyle before both crashed to the floor. Harry then tossed the glove to the ground. "Pick up my gauge Malfoy or be revealed to the world as the sniveling coward you are."

Eyes filled with rage, his normally pale face flushed red with fury, Draco crawled to his feet and glared at Harry before spitting at his feet, a tooth bouncing off one of Harry's boots. With a flick of his wand, Draco summoned the glove to his hand. "Challenge accepted you disgraced worthless half breed. What are the terms?"

Harry grinned faintly; behind him the others kept their faces schooled into neutrality. "Terms? Malfoy, I knew you were of limited intelligence, but I didn't realise you were absolutely stupid. The terms and weapons are for you to decide. Blades or Wands and as for the conditions, first blood, surrender and for the worst of insults, you crawling maggot, to the death. However I suggest you forget that one, you don't have the skills or stomach for it."

A growl of fury came from the Malfoy heir before he nodded "Very well, Potter, you disgusting fly bloated fool. Wands, to the Death. No other conditions. May Merlin have mercy on your pathetic carcass."

The smirk on Harry's face turned predatory. "Agreed. In front of legal witnesses no less. Tomorrow then, at dawn. I have no need of seconds, only a coward would need someone else to hide behind in this case. Be there Malfoy, Witnesses are welcome, wands only to the death." Then he pushed past the fuming blonde and made his way to the Gryffindor table, casually tapping his robes as he sat, the robes shimmered for a moment and then changed into the Hogwarts robes. His friends seated around him, with both Ginny and Neville keeping an eye on Malfoy, he began to eat a rather delicious cheese omlette.

Up at the staff table the Professors, lead by an ashen Albus Dumbledore, looked on in shock.

* * *

By evening the whole school knew not only that Malfoy was going to kill someone, but also that Harry Potter had had some kind of blazing argument with the Headmaster the night before. Indeed, even now, he would go tight lipped if he overheard people talking about it. Thus careful note was taken to be sure that he wasn't present when it was discussed. 

In the Gryffindor common room, the mood was grim. For six long years, they had known that fighting back against Draco Malfoy was to invite ruin for your family and more than a little painful hexing. The lucky ones to be on the receiving end of it wound up in the Hospital Wing. Colin Creevy had been a particular favourite of his to torment, a year younger and muggleborn, the enthusiastic Gryffindor was slowly having the joy he found in this new world ground out of him. He had received word from his uncle on Sunday afternoon that his parents were dead. It was up to him to look after his brother now. A chore he had no idea where to begin. For a brief time, Malfoy had been neutralised and now, it was going to come to an end. Colin knew that Malfoy couldn't be stopped. It had literally been beaten into him. He also knew the rest of the school knew this. However, he was also man enough to recognise that he had hope. That these strangers, these larger than life heroes came from Gryffindor, was only fitting to his mind. In the morning he was going to be there, he was going to make sure of it. To see whether his prayers had been answered or if Malfoy would cement once and for all, his iron fisted rule over the school.

* * *

At first light, the five could be found in the Room of Requirements, their secret hideaway in the school. Dressed in the finest of battle robes, they were carefully stretching and preparing for battle. Harry rose and cleared his throat. 

"Right, we know what to do. No one interferes, not from our side, not from theirs. If they try, take them down. If things go like I expect them to, it wont take long. Now, I'm sure there will be a party in the tower tonight, which we have to attend for a bit. If only to show the rest of the house how to act." He grinned suddenly. "After all, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati are great people but hardly upstanding role models. Now, lets go kick some ferret."

His mind slipping into focus, he bought his occlumancy shields up to almost their full level. Around him, the others did the same. Keeping their faces blank, they formed around Harry in an honour guard and together, they made their way down to the Great Hall. As they started down the stairs, students started to follow. Within a minute, the entirety of House Gryffindor followed in procession behind their Champion. As the house made their way into the Great Hall, a sneering, blustering Draco Malfoy could be seen moving stiffly in fine dragonhide battle robes. Robes of the highest quality, but the stiffness he displayed showed a lack of the comfort in the robes that came from long experience. Keeping to opposite sides of the almost silent hall, the pair made their way to the front where the Headmaster greeted them.

"My dear boys, is there no way this can be prevented?" Dumbledore allowed some of the deep concern he felt show in his voice. "Is there no way his can be settled without violence?"

Malfoy scowled. "Of course not." His whine had a nasal quality to it. "The House of Malfoy will never let slide the insults given to it by the House of Potter."

Harry simply regarded the Headmaster for a few seconds before answering in a dead monotone, "Recall my words two days ago. The House of Potter will not let the cowardly ambush of its Vassals go unpunished."

Sighing deeply, Dumbledore nodded. "So be it. Might I remind you that only wands will be permitted in this duel. As the judge, I am interpreting this to mean, no aggressive physical contact either. As Magic itself will decide any punishment for breaking this rule, I will say no more. No unforgiveables are to be used. This is final. If anyone even attempts to use one, then I will have no hesitation in declaring the other to be the winner, thus invoking the wrath of Magic on the other party. Now, up onto the platform."

As Harry climbed the steps, he mentally smirked to himself to see a furious looking Lucius Malfoy sitting next to a pale and icy Narcissa. Nodding politely to them, he walked to the starting point and then focused on Draco. The rest of the world fading into grey as he drew his wand. Assuming his stance, his ice-cold eyes stayed focused on his enemy.

He didn't hear the words Dumbledore called out to the entire school plus others who had come to witness. He didn't see that the hall was not even standing room only. He didn't notice his friends as they moved to their places to block any attempt to interfere with the duel. He did however see the feather begin to fall from Dumbledore's hand. His eyes tracked it as it floated down, while he gathered his magic. As it touched the ground, it changed into a bright green in colour, the signal to begin.

Stepping to the side, his wand flickered like the tongue of a snake and the glowing red ball that left his wand, darted across the stage. On the other side of the stage, Draco Malfoy had also started casting. However as his wand finished the proper movements and he bellowed out, "_REDUCTO!"_ Nothing happened. Blinking, he looked down to see that his wand was missing most of its length. In its place was a thin wisp of smoke that was lazily rising up. A look of panic crossed his face.

Harry however remained impassive. Clinical even. His cutting curse had achieved the desired effect. Malfoy was unarmed. Now came punishment. Stepping forward, his wand flickered and a ray of purple magic slammed into Draco's right knee. The crowd winced at the sound of his scream, as the knee erupted and the kneecap was wrenched by the summoning charm out of it's position and over to Harry. Another flick and the blonde was silenced. Draco's left elbow was the target of the next spell, the bludgeoning charm smashing into the joint, sending the boy flying backwards. A minor explosion curse destroyed the right kneecap, leaving the boy sobbing in terror, unable to even crawl backwards. His pleas unable to break the silencing spell.

"Draco, Draco Draco, you've been a naughty boy." Harry's tone was glacial as he slowly and methodically made his way towards the Slytherin. "I told you that you shouldn't have chosen this, that you weren't good enough. I've proven time and again how useless you are." He stepped forward as Draco managed to pull a second wand out of the sleeve of his robes and flicked his wand. First the wand was banished out of Malfoy's hand, and then the arm was wrenched violently, pulling it out of the shoulder joint. "Now, you had to try and big note yourself again and now look where it's gotten you. In a duel to the death," A lance of orange light shot from his wand and Malfoy writhed on the floor, fouling himself. "In which you don't even have a wand any more and seem to be well and truly crippled." He dispassionately regarded the twitching heir to the Malfoy fortune. "I really hate doing this, you know? I hate killing. I hate it with a passion. I'm going to have nightmares about how your head is going to explode." He extended his wand, aiming it between the eyes of the now frozen in fear, stark white Slytherin. "I'm sorry."

"RANSOM!"

At the scream that came from the crowd, Harry lowered his wand and stepped back before turning to regard Narcissa Malfoy who had sprung to her feet.

"I plead Ransom for the life of my son!"

An outbreak of murmuring rippled through the crowd that had been till now, silent in horror of how brutally Draco had been crippled. Purebloods muttered rules of dueling to others.

"Lady Malfoy." Harry politely inclined his head. "You wish to plead ransom?" He bowed formally to her. "With the judges permission, I will be glad to discuss such with you. The preservation of human life should always be encouraged." Smirking faintly, he waited for Dumbledore's nod before turning back to Draco, casting an extremely complex Stasis spell upon his opponent. "This is but a momentary stay of execution, not a chance to get your breath back." He said moving down from the platform. Once he was face to face with her, he bowed again and kissed the back of her hand in a formal manner, his face however was expressionless. With a flick of his wand, a privacy bubble was erected over the pair, leaving the nature of the discussion a secret, while on the stage, a frozen Draco stared, pain and terror etched into his face. In the crowd, Lucius Malfoy fumed.

* * *

The five gathered in their common room an hour later. Harry was grinning broadly, an expression shared by the others. 

"So mate, what did ya get in return for the Ferret's life?" Ron leant forward curiously.

Harry chuckled. "It's pretty sweet. From Narcissa's dowry, I got the Black family partnership in the Daily Prophet. I got Lucius' seat on the Hogwarts' Board of Govenors. I got Hermione's birthday present and to top it off, the Ferret had to swear a binding magical oath to not attack anyone, ever again. He can defend himself but he can't start anything or get others to start something for him." He smirked and sipped at his pumpkin juice. "So, The Daily Prophet now has me having an equal say as the Ministry, Lucius has been hamstrung in Hogwarts, which also means the Slytherins can't get away as much or Snape gets fired. Overall, not a bad mornings work." He ginned suddenly, "So, how was your morning?"

Hemrione sat on the couch, seemingly running things through her head before she turned and regarded Harry with a wide-eyed stare. "What did you get for me from them? I can't think of anything I might have missed when we raided their mansion."

Harry just grinned. "Wait until your birthday."

* * *

A/N: Yes, Harry was brutal; he was nasty and more than a bit cruel. There is a reason. He is head of a Noble Family in a world where it was previously thought the family was gone. He needs to establish his position hard and fast. By dueling like he does, he puts the fear of him into anyone who thinks of dueling him. After all, would you want to duel someone who might rip your kneecap off? Throw in an (un)healthy does of PTSD and a very 'us vs them' mentality, where if you are against him, then you are a target who needs to be eliminated. All he wants is safety, peace and quiet. He will fight and kill to get it. 

The next chapter is a few pages in Bob, wont be long now, much shorter wait this time.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: It all belongs to her. None of it belongs to me. Sic not thy attack lawyers nor rabid weasels upon me or my pants.

Join the pantless revolution today. Damn the Pants!

* * *

Making their way down to the Quidditch pitch for the final duel, both Harry and Neville noticed the hoards that were streaming in. Adults, Students Teachers and more! Off to the side, Hagrid was directing the crowd to where there was available seating.

As they crossed into the pitch itself, they noticed that the stadium had been expanded and now there were over a thousand people present. Peering around, they could see the spectator shield had even been reinforced and now shimmered in the morning light. The staff seating had been expanded to include Ministry staff as well as other Dignitaries. Indeed, it seemed that the Who's Who of the British and western European Wizarding community was present. Not to mention more than two thirds of the Law enforcement community and professional dueling community.

"Hey Harry?" Neville chuckled as they looked around. "I think that this has gotten to be slightly bigger than we expected, eh?"

Harry nodded, blinking slightly. "Damn, hope there isn't some kind of up and coming dark lord. Blowing this place up would give them free reign across most of Europe. Any idea why so many turned up?"

"Don't know, maybe its cause of you and your mighty titles or something?" Neville nudged Harry lightly. Receiving a slap up the back up the head in response.

"Ah, Boys, so glad you could make it." Remus Lupin was grinning widely. "It seems that word of your previous Duels, Harry's performance yesterday, rumours of your careers as dark wizard hunters, rumours of years of training, a rumour that either Harry or Neville is secretly Lord Gryffindor," Remus paused, grinned wolfishly and then checked a list in his hand. "That one of you is secretly controlling Hogwarts, that you are blackmailing Dumbledore and finally, that one of you is secretly Stubby Boardman, thank you Luna, have meant that a few people are interested in seeing what you can do." He laughed softly at the bemused expressions of the two. "You really had no idea did you? Witches Weekly came out today and the pair of you are on the cover. Somehow they managed to get a picture of the pair of you covered in sweat and without shirts. Possibly after a training session. Well, obviously you'd have noticed the rather large amount of flushed expressions, giggles and sighing among the female population that accompanies you as you walk around?"

Harry blinked and Neville went red. Both obviously in a state of shock.

"No? Ah, let me guess, you ate breakfast in your rooms and haven't seen anyone today? So you wouldn't know that the cover is also available, through Padfoot's store, as a poster, wall hanging and framed picture to put beside your bed? Or that witches Weekly has to do a third print run? Or that thanks to the cover, you have both edged out Gilderoy Lockheart as most eligible Bachelors in the British Wizarding world?" He had to pause at the looks of horror that flashed across their faces. "Ah well, that last bit isn't true. You are both in the top ten though, as is Ron. Mysterious pasts, great academically, amazing duelers and as one young lady put it, it seems that Neville has more bumps than a stocking full of walnuts."

Neville just blinked and then looked at Harry who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"You know, this means I'm going to have to beat you right?"

Harry just smirked. "You can try, you might even get close, but Cub, I've won five of the past five serious duels we've had. Do you have a sneaky plan for this?"

Grinning wolfishly Neville nodded. "Oh yeah, it's called an undamaged Hogwarts with more power behind it for me to channel."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "That's a good plan. I mean, we were close before, but that could be enough to push you past my shields." Then he grinned broadly, "Unless I have my own secret plan to counter that because I already knew that'd be what you used?"

Bemused, Remus watched the two young men banter back and forth. His gaze darted to the stands where he could see Sirius and the rest of the Weasleys. He was amazed at times, how giving the family was. Just the simple fact that Sirius was a friend of the twins and their boss, combined with his status as a bachelor, was enough to get him at least one meal a week at the Burrow. Remus was of course welcomed as well. An amazing family. Shifting his gaze back to the pair, he was surprised for a moment to see their faces had shifted into blank, expressionless masks.

"Showtime" Harry's voice was as blank as his face. "Agreed rules are Anything Goes."

Remus blinked. "Are you sure? No restrictions?" He looked worried.

Neville looked at him and nodded. "Anything goes."

Remus swallowed and nodded before leading the pair out to the centre of the pitch. Casting a _sonorous_ he called out to the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Teachers, Students, Members of the Ministry and distinguished guests. Welcome to the final duel in what has long been talked about, the NEWT DADA dueling tournament. I can honestly say that I was never expecting such a turnout for a school level match, but am glad you have come. Our two duelers are Mr. Neville Longbottom and Mr. Harry Potter, both are exceptionally skilled for their age and with mutual agreement have decided on the following rules." He pulled a scroll from his sleeve and unrolled it. Then after reading it for a second he winked at the pair and called out. "Anything Goes. Ladies and Gentlemen, by mutual agreement, the following rules are in effect. Stay inside the spectator shield. Now, I would like the introduce the judge of this match, the head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, Mr. Arthur Weasley." Canceling the sonorous, Remus applauded Arthur as he made his way onto the pitch, dressed in Auror robes with his badge of rank worn proudly. Shaking both boys hands, Remus quickly made his way to the other side of the shield.

Back on the pitch, Arthur bowed to the pair and made his way to his own position.

"You ready for this Cub?" Harry's tone was light and easy, despite his careful stance.

"Oh yeah Streak, I've been waiting for this." Neville nodded and drew his wand, and then at a muttered word it expanded, growing to its full six and a half foot length. The large crystal on the end throbbing with a soft blue light.

Across the field, Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? It's all out? You want to go for the title?" He grew a sly grin and slowly drew out first one wand, and then a second, identical wand. As Neville saw the second wand he blinked and groaned slightly. "What's that Cub? You didn't know I'd gone to Ollivanders to purchase a wand?" electric blue energy crackled and arced between the wands. "You know what I was like with Tom's wand. Now lets see the next level." Slipping back into a neutral expression, he held one wand over his head, the other in front of him, crouching slightly.

Neville nodded, resolve and determination surrounding him like an aura for a moment before his own occlumancy shield were slipped in place. Holding his staff in both hands he too crouched. In the middle and carefully not anywhere close to between them, Arthur Weasley nodded and then grinned like a first year Gryffindor at the thought of what he was about to see. "BEGIN!" Was all he said as he stepped back through the spectator shield.

Out in the field, neither moved for a moment. Eyes locked, a faint aura of magic surrounding both of them as their wills clashed. Then, as a faint breeze ruffled Harry's hair, Neville exploded into action. Bringing his staff up, aiming it almost like a long rifle, gouts of royal blue energy shooting out of the crystal and hurtling towards Harry who hadn't moved.

Up in the stands, the crowd exploded into cheers as the show began. However small groups of Unspeakables were muttering frantically among themselves about what they had seen so far. Staves and what looked like more than Brother Wands.

As the gouts closed, Harry exploded into action. A serene look of focus on his face as he moved, both hands lashing out and moving as he used the tips of his wands to deflect and bat aside the gouts. Neville hadn't let up, his own expression focused as he machine-gunned spells at his friend. Harry seemed to dance, occasionally spinning, his hands flicking too fast for some of the youngest students to see, he was the stopping point as magic exploded around him, spells being sent to crash into the ground and spectator barrier where they erupted into explosions that left the barrier shimmering and ringing like a bell. Dust started to cloud the air and the barrier slowly grew darker in places as spectators could see the continuous stream of bolts of magic hurtle towards a point in the dust cloud where they bounced off in other directions.

Suddenly the flow stopped and there was silence as the light breeze blew the dust away, revealing Harry, with only a torn sleeve and a light coating of sweat to show for all Neville's efforts. "My Turn" was all he said before moving, extending both wands in front of him, white lightning arced and crackled between the wands. Then his eyes narrowed and the wands seemed to buck as he started firing bolts of magic at Neville. Alternating between wands he pistoned his attacks towards his friend. Neville nodded and started to spin his staff. As he did so, both ends of the staff lit up with a blue light that streaked through the air as he spun the staff. As the bolts hit the web of light created by the trail of the ends, they were deflected off the web. Slowly, the pace of the bolts increased as more and more were hurled faster and faster. Then Harry stopped and grinned at his friend.

"Nice, that web is a bugger to get anything past. It's a draw once again. We going to do this properly?"

The crowd looked confused. Then awed as both Harry and Neville braced themselves then simultaneously leant forward, a continuous beam of light exploded from Neville's staff, almost a foot wide. Harry shot two beams that spiraled around each other, the magic of the two crackling between them. It was with an almighty 'BOOM' that the two beams met in the centre of the pitch and the feeling of raw magic in the air became overwhelming.

In the stands, Professor Dumbledore paled and blinked. "My God, he's drawing from Her!"

While the unspeakables and Aurors both leant forward as a group, awed by the display of raw magical muscle.

"Are you seeing this Shack?" Nymphadora Tonks elbowed her boss. "It's a flippen head to head! I've never heard of this happening in centuries!"

Kingsley nodded slowly, his eyes never moving from the scene before him. "Two wizards pitting their raw magical power against each other. Hell, I could maintain that sort of blast for maybe three seconds before I was drained. Let alone a beam that thick. what are these two?"

In the Student stands, the pretty lightshow was applauded.

A group of twenty professional duelers sat awestruck. "Merlin's Hairpiece!" Gunther Schmidt, ranked 7th in the world rubbed his eyes in shock. "That's real! It isn't just a lightshow!" The two nearest to him looked shocked and raised their omnioculars to get a closer look.

A pair of Master Aurors sat there, their expressions warring between shock and pride at the display. The old lady next to them just beamed smugly.

Slowly, the two beams grew brighter, as the two strained against each other for almost half a minute. Then, the air where the two met started to twist and roil as it was pushed and torn by the power of the two before the impact point started to slowly move towards Neville. Sweating and straining, the pair tried to focus harder, but he junction point slowly moved closer and closer to Neville till, almost a minute after it began, Neville's beam collapsed as Harry's lanced forward to hammer into him. Neville flew backwards through the air to slam into the spectator screen, which buckled under the impact before he slid to the ground.

Resting his hands on his knees while drawing deep gasps as he tried to regain his breath, Harry nodded in satisfaction. He'd made the commitment to himself a long time ago. He didn't loose.

* * *

Harry grinned lightly to himself as he entered the hospital wing. This was only the second time in almost 3 years that he'd had to visit it when he wasn't the person laying on the bed. Moving over to where Neville lay, he grinned at his friend after nodding politely to his parents.

"Damn Cub, I knew you'd gotten better in the past year, but wow! That was almost ten seconds longer than last time. How much did you drawn from the old girl?"

Neville smiled softly. "Bout the same as last time, She had more in reserve and more to give but She was holding back. Basically, She was more cautious and didn't see the need to give more. As for how I improved, I've been using that meditation technique Luna found for us, it's a great way to touch your core and work on it." A flash of sadness crossed his face.

Harry nodded and rested his hand on Neville's shoulder for a moment, their pain shared, before he turned to smile at Neville's parents. "Sir, Ma'am, a pleasure to see you again. I hope you enjoyed the show?"

"Frank." Frank Longbottom nodded slowly. "Anyone who can duel like that and has lived through what you have has my respect. Call me Frank. It's a pleasure to see you again Mr. Potter."

"Harry" He grinned. "It was not that hard actually, just exhausting. Neville and I are so evenly matched that every time we go head to head, it's always enough to put one of us in the Hospital wing with exhaustion."

Frank nodded slightly. "You are both that powerful?" He seemed a bit shocked.

Harry shrugged and looked at Neville, who faintly nodded. "Yeah, well, at our base, we are about the same. Too close really. I wont go into that, it's Hermione's theory. However, we have been, for want of a better term, increased. Made more powerful, by different forces. For Neville, it's his connection to Hogwarts that has increased his power. Not only does it increase his raw power, but he is able to draw on some of her reserve magic to augment his own. For me, I was cursed with being a Child of Prophecy. Voldemort had undergone dozens of power amplification rituals and was able to use the Dark Mark to suck magic out of his followers to amplify his own power. I was cursed to be his equal, so as he grew in power, so did I. Which is why we had Neville bond with Hogwarts, not me. He and I are born on the same day, so it could have been either of us that was the child. If I had failed and died, then it would have been up to him." Sad eyes sat atop a wry grin. "Bet you've never been so grateful that Neville was born before me. Another two hours and he would have been the One, while I would have been the trusty sidekick. HEY!" He laughed as Neville cuffed him across the head hard enough to send him off the bed. "Ok, that's fair, he is more of a Minion.. OUCH!" He flinched from the stinging hex. "Lackey?.. OI! Would you stop hexing the almighty hero? That'll teach me to accept your Oath of Fealty, no respect for your Lord I tell you." He suddenly froze and looked at the Longbottoms. "Oh bugger. I don't suppose you can forget you heard that?"

Alice Longbottom frowned faintly. "I don't think we can Lord Potter." Harry winced. "I have enough knowledge of proper society to know that the Longbottoms are higher in station than the Potters, how can Neville have sworn to you?"

Harry sighed and nodded "Very well, Neville, You have my permission to tell your parents and only your parents, the truth of the matter as long as you get Oaths of Secrecy from them. Despite my mistake just now, I don't want it being made public at least till I graduate." Standing, he bowed politely to the Longbottoms. "Oh, and Nev, give them the history of why it needs to remain quiet." With that, he walked out of the hospital wing.

With him gone the parents turned to look at their son. "What did he mean? And before you ask. I Francis Longbottom do swear secrecy on this matter to be discussed until Lord Potter makes it a matter of public record."

Neville smiled and pulled aside the top of his pyjamas to show the House Gryffindor tattoo. His parents blinked in shock. "Well, my correct title is Knight and I am a vassal of Harry Potter, Lord Gryffindor, Protector of the Light. In the past thousand years, there have been twenty-five Lord Gryffindors. In each case their families were hounded by Dark wizards and nearly wiped out. Harry kind of wants to keep his line alive."

* * *

The weeks that followed the tournament were quiet ones. NEWTS were looming, the Slytherins were quiet and the Gryffindor tally of points was surprisingly high, despite the Headmaster, Professor McGonnegal and Snape taking points off from the five for their not attending the detention that they were assigned. Indeed, any points taken off the five were simply not being removed.

"Harry?" Hermione looked at her friend curiously as they sat in their common room one evening. "Why aren't we getting in trouble for not going to the detentions?"

Harry sighed and rummaged in a pocket before tossing a small pouch to Neville. "It's simple really. There are three reasons. Firstly, Hogwarts herself has final say over any points removed. Thus, if she doesn't approve, they don't come off. Second, I have my Title, that means that Hogwarts wont take any points off of myself or my Vassals as I am considered to be above that and I am the only one allowed to punish you." He suddenly grinned. "So if I think you've been naughty, you might get a spanking," His words trailed off under her steady look. "Or maybe, you know, not. Anyway, moving on. The third reason is that she likes Cub." He nodded sagely. "So, between us, we've convinced her not to tell Dumbledore that she isn't letting him give or take any points at all until next year. Just so we can see the resulting explosion when he realises. Let alone when Snape realises that all those points he removes in class aren't going anywhere. Currently Ravenclaw has a good solid lead." He smirked slightly. "However, why aren't we being punished? Because I don't believe the punishment was fair. Dumbledore has given us the same punishment as Malfoy and his cronies. We were the ones attacked, we defended ourselves and we get punished? Not bloody likely. Hogwarts agrees with me. What's interesting is Professor Sprout agrees too. She wasn't happy that we did unto them so violently, but she understands why we did it and more to the point, she can see that it's disarmed Malfoy and crew and apparently her 'Puffs are feeling a lot safer." His face darkened. "Especially the girls. Apparently there have been cases of girls waking up with no memory of a few hours when they go down to Hogsmead. That doesn't sound good and it's outside Dumbledore's area of influence. So we need to keep an eye out for any such behavior in the future." Ron nodded, his face a storm cloud of emotion. "Cub, you seem to be getting pretty friendly with Miss Bones, why don't you take the lead on this?"

Neville nodded, his cheeks pinking slightly. "Can do Streak. The 'Puffs seem to like me after I stepped between Susan and her friends and Crabbe and Goyle." He shrugged slightly. "They aren't combatants, we knew that even back home. So we will need to keep an eye out for them." A soft grin crossed his face. "That said, I don't think there is a better networked support crew anyone could ask for."

The group nodded in appreciation and idly chatted for a few minutes more before Ginny dropped the copy of the Daily Prophet that she was reading from, in shock.

"Bloody Hell!" Her face was pale. "We need to start reading the prophet again! Look at this, poor bloody Colin and Dennis, their parents were murdered two weeks ago. We never heard anything!"

The others had frozen in shock.

"Murdered you say?" Hermione's voice was rigidly controlled in its calmness. "May I see that please?" She plucked the paper from the table and started to read.

It took less than a minute before she nodded slowly. "Right, definitely murdered. The Prophet doesn't want to print the pictures because it's too gruesome. Throw in that a symbol of a red skeletal dragon floating over the house and we have a problem."

Harry nodded grimly. "We don't have half the resources this time. Fortunately he seems to be a new dark wizard. Tom wouldn't have suffered competition and the symbol doesn't ring any bells. I'd bet that this is a new Dark Lord making his kick off. Which means we need to find him fast and hit him hard. If he doesn't get time to have people shaking in fear of his name, it will be much easier. Ron, you and Ginny should be able to tap the gossip networks, the gods know surviving in your family means knowing everything that's going on. Nev, start quietly spreading the word amongst the senior students that we will be having open tutorials in NEWT DADA." He frowned slightly. "Why don't you invite Blaise and Bulstrode? Neither of them launched spells so they have a modicum of intelligence. Besides, we need Slytherin allies. We all suspect Lucius and he's going to be our first target for investigation. However we can't restrict ourselves." He paused and smirked faintly. "That said, I bet the secret dark art cache under his dining room floor has been unfound for a while. Be a shame if it's existence was revealed?"

The dark chuckles of the others were filled with wrathful mirth.

* * *

Bill Weasley had been having a good day. Less than an hour after he'd started work, he and his team managed to finally crack through some ancient trap wards that had surrounded an ancient tomb. The Gringotts diviners had agreed for once with the historians, that this was a wealthy tomb indeed. Which meant that not only had he and his team finished the hardest part with over a week to spare, but also there was the promise of a lucrative share of the profits. To top it off, he had the afternoon off.

"Mr. William Weasley?"

Bill looked up from his coffee. He was at a Wizarding cafe in the magical quarter of Cairo.

"Yes?" Bill looked curiously at the obviously English wizard, dressed in fine business robes who had addressed him.

"Mr. Weasley, I represent a consortium of British wizards who are interested in hiring you and your team for freelance work back home. Time is a factor I am afraid, but rest assured that my employer has stated that you will be more than generously compensated."

Bill frowned slightly and shook his head. " I'm sorry, my Gringott's contract expressly forbids freelancing without notifying head office. My team would be available for hire through Gringotts but not as freelance."

The man chuckled slightly. "Of course, your loyalty to your employer does you credit. If however, you do become interested within the next week, please send me an owl." He inclined his head slightly and proffered a business card.

Bill smiled politely and as he reached out to take the card, he heard someone behind him mutter a single word before the world went black.

"_Stupefy_"

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: It all belongs to HER! Not me! I dont own it, I own nothing, not even pants. Damn the pants!

* * *

Susan Bones carefully and quietly opened the doorway at the top of the staircase. Peeking out, she could see that this was indeed, the top of one of the dozens of minor towers that were scattered around the sprawling castle. Stepping through the door, she clutched her wand in one hand and the note that had been owled to her in the other as she peered around. She knew that more than one Hufflepuff had been waylaid in abandoned sections of the castle before, so she was being extra paranoid.

"It's safe, you don't need to worry."

She squeaked and leapt almost a full foot into the air as she spun around to see a now chuckling Neville Longbottom sitting in one of the crenellations.

"It's safe. Don't look so stressed. In fact," He flicked his wand and a deep, comfortable looking armchair appeared next to where he sat on the stone. "Have a seat, we need to talk."

"We do?" Nervousness warred with embarrassment at her surprise. "Is something wrong?" Curiosity and a warm generous nature meant that a flash of concern was also present.

Neville sighed softly and shook his head. "Nothing has changed in the past week between us, but before," He paused and coughed slightly, his face blushing. "Ahh, how to put this politely. Before we start to develop our relationship, you need to know certain things, not just about me, but about my life." He paused and took a swig from a bottle of butter beer. "It's not pretty Susan, I don't know if you'd want to be seen with me if you knew the truth." A wry look crossed his face. "I know I wouldn't want to be near me. I'd also need your oath of secrecy. This is important Susan, there are too many secrets that could hurt too many people."

Susan nodded, her expression torn between confusion and worry. "But you are willing to risk it?"

"Risk you walking away from me in disgust?" Neville nodded. "Yeah, I know how strong you can be. I'll risk it."

Susan smiled softly. "Neville Longbottom, I think that you are a good boy and while there may be some bad things in your past I think, no, I know that given the choice between getting involved or standing back and letting bad things happen, you'll choose to stand between the danger and the helpless." She blushed slightly. "I have been watching you fairly closely these past few months. However, I do swear by my Magic and Honour that nothing that passes between us this night will be told to anyone save by your leave." A soft golden glow surrounded her for a few seconds before fading.

Neville nodded and flicked his wand a few times as his eyes drifted out of focus before he nodded slightly. "Right, no one can hear us now." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Sorry, this is kinda hard."

Susan smiled softly and took his hand in hers. "Take your time Neville, I wont go anywhere until you say you are finished."

Neville nodded and looked out over the lake. "I'm not the Neville Longbottom you spent your first and second years with. He's dead. The five of us are the only survivors of the final battle between Harry Potter, otherwise known as Lord Gryffindor and Tom Riddle, known as Lord Voldemort, the Heir of Salazaar Slytherin. After the war was over, the next day in fact, we made use of a portkey made by our Dumbledore before he died, to travel here. It was his last gift to us." He sighed softly and squeezed her hand gently. "This place is two things to us, it's an idyllic paradise in some ways. There are no real challenges for us to fight, no one trying to kill us and the people we used to know are alive. That's the downside. Now we have to finally deal with everything we left behind. It was a war Susan, the most bloody, vicious and deadliest war the Wizarding world had ever seen. One in four, maybe one in three people from Europe were dead at the end. One in maybe five or ten from the Americas. Europe didn't have an economy any more, there where no wizarding sites left in England or Western Europe. They had all been destroyed. From the end of our fifth year, for the next five years, we fought. We killed. We murdered. We even tortured at times. Because there was no real alternative. Tom was evil. To join his Death Eaters, you had to rape, to torture and to kill. You had to be able to cast all three unforgiveables and they often did. They'd use the Imperius to make muggles torture and kill their own spouses or rape their own children. More to the point, they'd revel in it."

He paused to give her time to get over her horror. "Harry was the centrepiece. As a baby he thwarted Tom, drove him from his body for a decade. In this world, that was the night he was defeated. Then a decade later we went to Hogwarts. In his first year, he drove Voldemort's wraith out of Hogwarts after it possessed a teacher. In his second, he killed, by himself, a fifty foot Basilisk. In his fourth, he won the Triwizard Tournament, but that's where things went downhill. By doing that, he was kidnapped and his blood was used to fuel the rebirth of Voldemort in a Black Arts necromantic ritual. After that, things went nasty. The ministry was under the thumb of Lucius Malfoy, who was part of Voldemort's inner circle. It tormented Harry, turned the public against him, victimised him. Throw in that most nights Harry was seeing Tom torture people through a mystic link they had. By the end of our sixth year, Hogwarts was closed. It wasn't safe any more. By our seventh year, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers were rubble along with the entire North Wing. The ministry was gone, along with Diagon Alley, obliterated. Paris lost it's wizarding centre as did Marseille and Amsterdam. Dumbledore was dead and Harry was the leader of the side of Light. We, that is, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and I. We'd sworn fealty to him. He needed to know that there were those who were loyal to him above all. That would never, could never betray him. That he wasn't alone." Neville shuddered slightly and then took a swig from his bottle.

"I would never say we had it easy. We killed our way around Europe, trying to find a way to stop the bastard. We assassinated key people, did unto his foot soldiers. We were The Marauders. The best combat team in Europe. I've lost count of our injuries. All of us got hit by two of the unforgiveables more times than I can count. It was five years of hell. By the end, we were running on sheer force of habit. Luna allowed herself to be captured a week before the end. We found a ritual spell that would allow us to destroy his soul. The only problem was that we needed him there for it. So, Luna, who was a seer, saw the only way it could work." He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "She gave up everything for us Susan, everything. Her pride, her dignity, her magic, her mind and then her life. I don't want to imagine what she went through, but we'd let slip to a known spy and through our spies, that we had a way to kill Voldemort. Then she allowed herself to be captured. She held out for days against the best they had to throw at her. She had to hold out for long enough for them to think it was genuine. That she really broke. Then they kept having their fun with her till she died." He wiped his face. "That information she gave out, it meant that Tom lead his main force to Hogwarts where we ambushed him. Hours of fighting, mountains of corpses, then we got him and he was gone. So here we are. There isn't one of us that doesn't wake up screaming at least once a week, from the nightmares. We can't walk down a hallway without looking for every possible ambush point, every escape. A first year passing us in the halls is a possible assassin. If someone we don't know touches us, even if you touched my shoulder, without us being ready for us, every instinct we have is screaming out, that we have been ambushed and to kill the other person. We know each other, we trust each other. We've been through so damn much. We've seen each other in such states that there is no shame between us any more. We've bled, thrown up and cried on each other. How do we trust anyone else? They wouldn't understand. Hermione calls is post thaumatic stress or something, I just don't know any more." He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "I just don't know any more."

Susan just nodded. Tear rolling down her cheeks not just from what she had heard, but also from the lost expression on his face. Standing, she gathered her courage. "I'm going to hug you now, just so you know and don't kill me." A hint of a smile crossed her lips at that as she leant in and wrapped her arms around him. "You are a good man Neville. Don't you ever forget that. Now, that I have heard your story, I don't think I will be giving up on you just yet"

Neville smiled tentatively "You don't hate me? Even after knowing that I've killed?"

Susan nodded. "I'm sure you had a good reason. Otherwise, you wouldn't feel guilty about it. Now, as it stands, I don't hate you and I have a large, muscular good looking boyfriend who just needs some extra help fitting in.

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in his Dormitory. He was tapping thoughtfully at his teeth with his wand. He'd dismissed Crabbe and Goyle a few hours ago and had been deep in thought since then. He'd considered everything that had happened that year. Made use of his personal pensive that he'd persuaded his father to let him have as a study aid, to review encounters. Slowly, very slowly, after watching first Potter and his allies' arrival, and then the lead up to his duel, repeatedly, He'd come to a realisation.

Blinking slightly he carefully put his wand down on his bed. Then checked that nothing breakable was within reach. Finally, he double-checked that the silencing charms around the room were in force. Then first he began to giggle, then snort, then laugh before finally erupting into a full blown scream of rage that cumulated with him throwing Crabbe's dresser across the room to bounce off the stone wall. Panting, he stood there, glaring at the wall with fury.

"That bastard. That utter bastard. He played me! He goaded me the entire way and set that up. He KNEW! That utter bastard! He KNEW how I would respond. He let me wander in, blind to what was going on and now I owe HIM a fucking life debt." A chair followed in the path of the dresser.

Suddenly he stopped and started chuckling again, his normally pale face flushed bright red. "Of course, that it was done in such a Slytherin way is one I can help but admire, even if it was a Gryffindork doing it."

"Indeed you should Malfoy, especially since he seems to be more cunning that you, yet is a Gryffindor. Thus is braver than he is cunning and ambitious. A terrifying combination." The voice behind him was calm, indeed even amused.

Draco spun around in shock at there being anyone else in the room. From where he was reclining on his own bed, Blaise Zambini simply smirked.

"Don't look so surprised Malfoy, you've always been sloppy when playing attention to the details." Blaise smirked.

Malfoy turned slowly to fully regard his dorm mate. "Perhaps. I will also admit that I underestimated them. All of them. Even the mudblood, Granger."

Blaise nodded slowly as he sat up. "Indeed. I would hazard that you thought of the nervous friendless first year when you thought of her, not the capable witch who according to my family, is a Potions Mistress, sponsored by Professor Snape. Who has designed a new form of magical focus and whom, if rumour is to be believed, has been hunting dark wizards since our third year. You saw only the young Longbottom, not the wizard with his own staff. A staff Malfoy! There hasn't been a wizard with a staff since Merlin. Then he was beaten by Potter is a duel of raw power. Do you even understand what you've stood against? The weakest of the five of them is a Weasley. Is it the girl? The one who can ghost through the halls with out you noticing her creeping up on you so she nails you with a spell before you even knew she was there? Or is it the boy? We both saw his duel against Potter, he is proficient with Auror level spells and more than competent with a blade."

Malfoy grimaced slightly and nodded. "Your point is made. Not that it matters now. Potter gave me a choice, my oath that I would never start a fight or death. I am not so keen to die. So I am neutered. Taken out of the game. Hogwarts is yours." He smirked. "For what it's worth. I've always known you were the better player. If not for my fathers influence, I would never have had so much control. I know he's kept Dumbledore from doing anything. However, that's how the game is played. The Slytherins are yours now. Time for you to take the reins." A sly smirk slid onto his face. "Have fun."

Blaise grinned lightly. "I don't want them. Maybe a few of the younger ones are salvageable. Nott or Greengrass in our year. However most of the rest of them, between you and Snape, have been ruined. They are crass, bloated on ambition and too used to hiding behind someone else's authority. My family is neutral. Always has been. We don't need to take ridiculous political stances to wield power. We own it. We have favours owed to us around the world. I have plenty here too. Toss in as well that the Gryffindors aren't out to get me save for the colour of my badge and I'm doing well. The days of Slytherins being subtle seems to have faded as raw ambition stamps over the intelligent."

Malfoy sighed softly and then grimaced. "No matter, with me gone and my father removed from the Board of Governors, Professor Snape will not last much longer. They appeared late and won the game completely. Ah well, I had my fun. I will dedicate myself to study and my NEWTS and then when I have graduated, I think I'm going to become a playboy and wastrel. See how much of the family fortune I can spend on the good life." He grinned brightly. "As the closest thing I've got to a friend, would you care to assist me?"

Blaise chuckled. "Unfortunately, I wont be able to destroy myself through debauchery, though the thought of buying that Gryffindor, Brown, for a few weeks, does appeal. I'm going to be busy with the family business."

Draco opened his dresser and withdrew a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses, pouring a dash into each he handed one to Blaise. "So, blackmail, extortion, smuggling and stand over?"

"Not this century. We've been honest merchants, traders and businessmen for centuries now. So it's only blackmail, money lending and swapping political favours. Not to mention a touch of trading using connections to get the best deals. It's all fair until we call in the debts. I think even your father would rather us call in a favour, than call in how much is owed my family." He grinned wolfishly and toasted with his glass. "Best keep me onside"

Draco nodded and sipped his drink. "Indeed. So, how long do you think it will be before my father irritates Potter?"

Blaise leant back and considered the ceiling for a few moments. "Well, after his words over the year, I'd say he knows a bit more about what your father is really like than others. I'll give him till the end of Summer."

"That long? Well, if you insist. I'm laying odds on the first social event of the year. At the latest, by the Ministers Ball. Then, once he does, I'll likely be free of him for a long time." His face went slightly slack. "Be nice not to be put under the Cruciatus for not being respectful enough."

Blaise nodded seriously. "Then I shall see if my family can get the minister to put the ball forward. The sooner you are free of him, the better."

Draco just nodded.

* * *

Nymphadora Tonks leaned back in her seat. Today she was dressed in one of her more provocative robes, one that opened down past her navel. She was in her form as Athena today, a form which had been remarkably productive. Muttering to herself, she quickly downed a vial of an easy to make bruise curing potion. She'd had to 'entertain' today and wasn't quick enough with her charms. As a result, she'd discovered that the fellow had a nasty habit of beating the hell out of the girls he hired, as a form of affection. However the pillow talk made it all worth it. Not that he actually got to do more than hit her a few times before she managed to hit him with a memory charm and made him think that he'd had a busy few hours. No, the information was worth a few bruises. Hell, it was worth a cracked bone as well as far as she was concerned. The new Dark Lord had a name. Lord Mortis. He called his followers Talons. This would put her in Arthur Weasley's good books, she was sure. Then there was the news that the Dark Lord was looking at hiring a team of curse breakers from Gringotts. Something about an ancient tomb and powerful forces at work, however, the git didn't know anything more than the ranting he'd overheard. She stifled a chuckle and picked up her goblet of mead. The Babbling Beverage sold by Chaos Inc. was good for more than pranks sometimes. Sometimes it might just save lives.

* * *

Harry Potter grinned, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Ron had his face in his hands, his whole body convulsing as he lay on the ground, struggling not to laugh.

"I'm serious Harry. I demand to know what it is!" Hermione stamped her foot on the ground as she crossed her arms in front of her in a huff

"Hermione." Harry's eyes were watering with mirth. "I know how much you love your books. We all do. However, this is a present for you. As such, I would be failing in my duty to you as your friend, as your occasional bedmate and most importantly, as the person giving the gift, if I were to let you find out what the gift is until you find out by unwrapping it as the appropriate time. As such, I have made use of not only the Gringotts Goblins, but the Castle, the Headmaster, three randomly chosen House Elves and one of Hagrid's creatures, to ensure that you wont find the rare, only a few ever written, ancient tome that you have never read before, until your birthday."

Hermione blinked, then paled, then flushed as she glared at him. "You mean to tell me, that the Malfoys had a book that I haven't seen? That you are deliberately hiding it from me? That you will continue to torment me with this knowledge?" Her expression slowly became more and more hurt. Her lower lip trembled slightly and then as she sniffed slightly, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Harry blinked. Ron blinked. Harry blinked again. Then cautiously he moved next to Hermione and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's just a present Hermione, there isn't any need to get so worked up." His voice was soft, reassuring and kind. "And all three of us know that you can fake tears even better than Ginny."

Hermione sighed and muttered before she wiped her face, all traces of her tears gone. "Damn, thought I had you there for a moment." she grinned and punched Harry in the arm. "If I offer you sexual favours, can I get it as a Graduation present?"

Harry leant back, smirking faintly. "I dunno, it's a pretty damn good book. I may take some persuasion."

Hermione smirked and leant in to whisper into his ear.

Harry blinked and slowly flushed red. "Well, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement. In the interest of keeping you happy that is."

Hermione grinned.

* * *

Bill Weasley screamed as he thrashed on the cold stone floor. The ray of red magic that played of him emitting from the wand of a wizard clad in black robes with red stitching that resembled dragon scales. After a few minutes the spell was ended and two more wizards chained him to the wall. In other cells, other members of his team could be heard screaming in agony, as they too were tortured under the Cruciatus.

* * *

Authors Notes: The Plot Thickens! The next chapter is half written and will include a small breakdown of wizarding politics and Pureblood alliances, done to the theme of gossip. 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: J K Rowling owns Harry Potter, all the various people, persons and so on associated with it. I'm not sure if she owns the actors in the movies too, but I bet she could afford them.

This chapter is Unbeta'd. It will be re-posted with the beta version, however I wanted to get it up sooner rather than later.

* * *

It was almost the end of the year. Spring had sprung, the flowers had bloomed and the fifth and seventh years had worried themselves into a maelstrom of panic regarding their upcoming NEWTs and OWLS. In the Gryffindor tower, nervous first and second years tip-toed through the common room, going out of their way to avoid the snarling seniors who were busy trying to study. Occasionally the delicate sounds of a muffled explosion would drift in through one of the windows, from the potions labs, where students prepared potions in preparation. The sale of lucky charms and items supposed to improve ones memory was prolific. Through it all, five students drifted in amusement. Their levels of stress were much lower than those in their year. Indeed, on a particularly hot saturday, a week before the NEWTS, the five could be seen sunbathing by the lake. An effect that could be described as distracting to the red blooded males and females of the castle. 

"ARGGGH! Thats it! I cant take it any more!" Lavender Brown bounced her head off the desk she was studying at before grabbing her wand and aiming it at the nearby windows. Taking the opportunity to practise her silent spellcasting, her brow furrowed in concentration before she nodded and the windows were suddenly obscured by a curtain of cobwebs that just happened, if one looked for more than a second, to have what seemed to be a picture of Neville Longbottom's torso in them.

"How can they be so calm?" Parvati sighed and turned to her next scroll. "I mean, it's only the most important set of exams, testing everything we have ever learnt, in our lives. If we do well, the world is available to us and if we do badly, then we have ruined the rest of our lives. How can they be so calm under this sort of pressure?"

Seamus tentatively raised his hand. He didnt want to speak out loud as last time he did that, he'd been on the recieving end of not only a silencing spell, but one that transfigured his mouth shut, fused his hands to his feet and then been hung from the chandelier. "I asked them." He quickly ducked down and pretended to be studying, in case the girls took offense ot his speaking.

For a few moments there was peaceful silence before he dared to look up to find both girls and Dean staring at him. "What?"

"Mate, you cant just do that you know? Give a titbit of information then not tell us more. Why arent they worried?"

Seamus nodded. "It's simple. As Nev put it, no one is going to die. They get worried when someone is going to try to kill them or when they have to actually do something. But Nev and Hermione are going to be registered as Potions Masters when they get their results. They apparently have enough money to live on for a few years and they recon that if worst comes to the worst, they will end up as Aurors if they cant find something they like." He sighed and slumped. "Their fall back job, the one they will take if they cant get what they want, is going to be one that half the kids in the school aspire to being good enough to be. Apparently Harry has his family fortune and is planning on writing some books, Neville cant decide between taking over from Sprout, Snape or going into the Department of Mysteries for a few years. Ginny hasnt decided, Hermione is planning on taking a few years off to do some further research but the Department of Mysteries is apparently scouting for her kinda hard and apparently Ron is considering becoming a professional dueler. There's even a rumour that he's getting Professor Flitwick to train him over the summer. Which I can understand, Flitwick was the world champion three years running."

The girls sighed and looked back down at the books infront of them.

"That just isnt fair" Lavender sighed. "not only are they all hot, but they are all bloody genius' as well. They make the rest of us mere mortals look bad."

Dean smirked. "Then I shouldnt mention that Harry has a seat on the Hogwarts Board of Govenors? Actually, I'm not sure if I heard correctly, but he may have two seats and two seats on the Wizengammot. I'm not that caught up on Wizarding politics, is that legal?"

Parvati nodded. "Oh yeah, He's got the Potter seat, which means that once he's graduated he will have a place in a faction and everything. If I remember what my Father told me, The Potters were historically one of the major Light sided factions, allied with the Bones', Prewitt's, Longbottom's, Brown's and Harris'. They had loose ties to the Dumbledore's, Boot's and Crouches, and were opposed by the Blacks, Malfoy, Lestrange, Nott, McNair, Harrington and O'Malley families.

Lavender smiled. "I hate politics. The Brown Clan doesnt get involved in it much because we are a Clan, not a family, so any time there is a decision to be made, the various family heads all meet to decide what the speaker will say. as you can imagine, we dont say much officially because there are so many of us world wide.

Dean blinked. "Bloody Hell! All this politics, it's important?"

Lavender nodded. "Oh yeah, its just the control of the entire British Wizarding world, nothing important or anything. The Minister title is as much a figurehead as anything. They are choosen by a vote of the Wizengammot and in order to become Minister, you hjave to have the support of the Majority. That means that all the old pure-blood families get to bicker and find a compromise candidate. Madame Bones only got in because the heads of the Lestrange, Harrington and McNair families were dead and there was no heir, the head of the Black family has sided with the Potter/Dumbledore faction and the Nott, Malfoy and O'Malley heads were in prison, awaiting trial when the vote was held. It was a nice bit of manouvering. Forcing the issue just a week after Voldemort was dead, before the dark faction could rally. "

"Dark Faction?" Dean looked lost.

"Oh yeah." Parvati looked shocked. "I cant believe you dont know all this. The Dark alligned families hate the Light aligned families. Thats why Susan Bones hasnt been alone in years, in case Malfoy tried to kill her. Why do you think Potter and Malfoy were instantly at eachothers throats? Not to mention the Blood Feud between the Weasleys and the Malfoys, Then there is the non agression pact between the Notts and the Longbottoms. Apparently about six hundred years ago, a Nott and a Longbottom fought back to back against a hoard of Goblins. After the battle, the two swore that their Families would never raise a weapon against eachother. It's pretty significant. Apparently there was even a Nott and a Longbottom who got married. Quite the scandal for both families. Then we have the Lestrange and the Black problem, rumour has it that the Lestranges were forced to take Bellatrix for the head of the families wife, to repay an insult from six hundred years ago. Lets not even get into the ties of the Malfoys back to France and their cousins there. It's very complicated."

Seamus nodded slowly. "I think, you lost me when you started with the Potters being allied to someone" He shrugged. "Not important anyway. Doesnt effect me. Besides, I've got NEWTS to study for. Dean nodded.

The girls just looked at the pair in shock before, with a huff and a growl of annoyance, they gathered their notes and stormed up into the girls dormitory.

* * *

It was a stressed looking group of Seventh years that gathered outside the Great Hall one morning during the exams. Hermione had caused a minor panic during the Potions exam, when she had asked, a little too loudly, if they got extra marks for correcting errors on the paper. Ginny had to pause her Charms practical because after demonstrating a modified tickling charm, her examiner had been laughing so hard, he had to be replaced, even after the spell was removed. Now was Defense against the Dark Arts, Practical component. A small gaggle of Hufflepuffs were huddled together, whispering encouragement to eachother. The Slytherins were aloof and ignored the lesser houses. the Ravenclaws were pouring over their notes. The Gryffindors were going over wand movements and a group of five was busy with hot chocolate in one hand and wand in the other, playing a game involving a half dozen stunners and shield charms to reflect them, which had a a few of the spectators looking worried. 

"OK" Harry, grinned and sipped his hot chocolate. "After our performances during the tournament, I'm not expecting this to be too hard. However, lets see you do your best not to kill them. Nothing too over the top. Just demonstrate a good solid knowledge of DADA. Remember, this is for Moony. He taught us, He showed us how to stay alive. If we dont do well here, we are dishonouring everything he taught us." The five nodded to eachother, casually sidestepping the stunners to end the game, resulting in a few students calmly slumping to the ground, out cold.

When his name was called, Neville gave his friends a thumbs up and walked into the Great Hall. Already, Hannah Abbot had been carried out and off to the hospital wing. Daphne Greengrass emerged clutching her elbow and limping slightly. Hermione had emerged smiling brilliantly with a bit of a skip in her step and said it was a 'piece of cake'. Neville had emerged five minutes later. frowning to himself.

"So you lot had to duel an Auror right?" Neville's frown deeped. "That was done after your practical demonstrations right?" The group of students who had completed their exam already all nodded. "Well sod. The cheeky bugger wouldnt even give me a duel!"

Susan Bones, her eyes twinkling with mirth, gently wrapped an arm around his waist. "Neville, did it ever occur to you that you might be a bit overquallified to beat an Auror in a duel?"

Neville grinned and nodded. "Oh I knew that, but I was hoping to get a chance to put Shak or Moody in the hospital wing" He snickered and ducked under Susan's hand as she tried to slap him in the back of the head. "It's true!"

Harry was muttering to himself as he entered where the others were.

"I cant believe it. After all that, a bloody Patronus, a few shields and they wont even duel with me! Can you believe that? I even offered to give them an advantage. No other weapons, only one wand, one hand tied behind my back and against two of them. I even offered to be blindfolded! The bloody cowards just told me to take my O and get out! I think one of them was even snickering! I bet it was either Shak or Moody." He grinned at Neville. "Do you think we scared them out of testing us in a duel?"

Hermione smirked. "I didnt get one either. I dont think any of us will. It's a pity really. I think they could use the practise."

From off to the side, an arrogant voice drawled "Dont you think you are a bit full of yourself Granger? You just declared that you would be a match for a fully trained master Auror." A smirking Malfoy stepped into view.

Hermione huffed slightly. "Of course I am Malfoy, even if it was restricted to just wands. It's a simple fact that there hasnt been a competant Dark Lord since Voldemort. That was sixteen years ago. Since then the Aurors have had no challenges and have gotten complacent. As such, I, who have spent much of the past few years engaged in magical combat, have not only the skills, but mindset and practise to defeat them. Thats why you lost your duel with me Malfoy, you went in overconfidant, untrained and lacking the will to win. To you, it was all an academic excersize of no importance. To us, any time someone raises a wand against us," She fixed her eyes on him. "We assume they are going to try to kill us and respond with equal levels of force. So there is no such thing as a friendly duel. There is no such thing as a half hearted attack. The Aurors havent had a challenge in over ten years. They have gotten complacent and their edge is slipping. We dont have that problem, so yes, Any of us could take one of the Aurors who turned up."

Malfoy nodded slowly, his grey eyes icy. "I think, Granger, that you have a very good point. Perhaps you have found your calling, with a job of aiding the Aurors in getting their edge back. Especially since there seems to be some kind of new dark lord impersonator out there and if things progress much further, they will need it."

Hermione's eyes narrowed fractionally but she nodded once. "Thank you. Though I have far more interesting things to do, than train a bunch of unenthusiastic adults who should have done it all themselves. It's not my fault they are lax." She smirked slightly. "Of course, none of the more interesting things involve a fraudulent attempt at conversation with something that believes me to be one step below a house-brick in capability and intelligence. Indeed, if this entity were to be believed, based on his previous words, I should be on my knees, thanking him for the opportunity to learn magic. Something I have no intention of doing, because I've once again managed to prove that a Muggleborn is not only more intelligent but compared to this entities past behaviour, better mannered than any ill tempered baboon in green and silver robes."

The group of students all seemed to take a collective step back as Malfoy whitened before flushing red. Taking a shuddering breath, his gripped his wand in a shaking hand, his breath hissing out through clenched teeth.

"I say Granger, thats a bit harsh isnt it?" The feminine drawl was urbane, civilised and amused. "I mean, even Crabbe is slightly more intelligent and better mannered than the arch typical gorilla in robes. Not to mention that out of anyone here, Potter is the one who would look best in those robes, matching his eyes and all. Though really, the manners comparison between him and a gorilla, would entirely depend on not only the gorillas etiquette training but it's dueling skills as well." Daphne Greengrass looked amused as she filed her nails.

Harry chuckled softly, opened a bottle of Butterbeer and took a swig. "Thats what I've always liked about you Greengrass, your ability to defuse a hostile situation. That and the fact that it sometimes seems like more people are afraid of you, than me."

"People are afraid of me?" Daphne allowed a hint of a blush to shade her cheeks in a demure manner. "I have no idea why that would be, I've always done my best to just get through school without upsetting too many people."

From the side, Zacharias Smith muttered something about excessive use of targeted bludgeoning hexes but fell silent when the icy gaze fell on him.

"Indeed Greengrass, you are the very embodiment of restraint within your house" Harry grinned "Care for a Butterbber?"

"No thank you Potter, I'm trying to cut back. Now, Granger, yes, you most likely topped the year in total, however you are what most would define as a sport, an anomoly in an existing system, " She smiled faintly as Hermione flushed red in anger. "We need to look at this analytically. Let us take a record of the marks of Purebloods against Muggleborns for the past hundred years. I wont go further back simply due to the fact that any further and the muggleborns are from on average far worse social conditions. Now, it's simple mathematics to show that not once in the hundred years did the Muggleborns, based on their average marks, come close to scoring higher than the purebloods. Yes, you have done marvelously well, I have no doubt about that, however the typical muggleborn drags down the average marks of their year. as such, they are negatively effecting the education levels of the wizarding world. You however are not a typical muggleborn. I have no doubt that you will do very very well. Someone like Thomas however, will likely be less than mediocre and at some stage, retreat to the Muggle world and only use magic as a tool, not the way of life that it is. Thus depriving the wizarding world of taxes on a wizarding income, depriving the shopkeepers of his expenditure as he doesnt shop at their shops. He wont know about our celebrations or customs and wont care about them. Then, he will likely end up marrying a muggle girl, thus diluting the strength of his magical blood. Probably resulting in either a muggleborn child or squib. Overall, the effort that has gone into teaching him, of offering him the opportunity to better himself, is wasted. Why should we welcome people who will negatively effect us after they graduate?

Hermione had been thinking hard during this and nodded slightly. "Assuming this is correct, I havent had a chance to review such things myself, however, I will take your words in good faith. What moves are being made by not just Hogwarts, but the wizarding government, to prevent this? I know that more and more muggleborns are born each year, thus there needs to be facilities in place to help them adapt, or the wizarding culture will become more and more diluted, save for the pueblood extremists, who will be killed off as they fight for their way of life. Why are there not classes for the second years, compulsory ones for everyone, in not just Wizarding culture, but Muggle culture and technology. After all, to my knowledge, the muggles can now do pretty much most of the things he wizarding world can do, with the exception of apperation, portkeys and transfiguration. They just take longer and need tools to do so. On the other hand, in the realms of communication, mass transport, information and war. The muggles have far exceeded the capabilities of wizards. As such, should not their accomplishments also be used? At the very least, knowledge of such things prevents discovery because of ignorance. Ignorance is the bastion of the savage."

Daphne smirked faintly. nodding a touch. "Of course Granger.I must say, I do like this idea of yours. You have no idea how many muggleborns lack even the basic undersanding of our holiays and their reasons. Yes, perhaps in a few weeks, we could meet, to discuss presenting a proposal for such to the Headmaster?"

Hermione smiled broadly and nodded. "I'll owl you"

"Yes, indeed you will."

* * *

Molly and Arthur Weasley were returning home. They'd had a lovely four weeks holiday. They'd visited distant relations, they'd even been to a wizarding beach in the south of France. During that time they'd fallen back in love with each other. The years of stress caused by the death of their two youngest, had bled away. They laughed and hugged before walking into their kitchen. Out of habit, Molly Weasley's gaze flicked to her wonderous clock. Then she froze. 

"Oh Merlin, No!" Her horrified whisper froze Arthur in his tracks. Turnin, he saw what she was staring at. The hand for William Weasley was fluctuating between 'Mortal Peril' and 'Unknown'

"Bloody Hell!" Arthur paled but then moved quickly. Ushering Molly over to a chair, he sat her down before dashing for the Fireplace where he hurled in a handful of powder while bellowing out. "Gringotts Bank, Curse Breaking"

It took a few minutes of conversation before a grim Arthur took Molly's hands. "The Goblins say that he was last seen six days ago. As he had a weeks break due to an early finish, it was assumed that he had gone for a holiday. It took a little bit of time, but it seems his entire team is missing. The goblins have begun a search. Lets notify the other children, shall we?"

Molly, her eyes never leaving the clock, nodded slowly, her old fears surfacing.

"It will be alright Dear" Arthur, though worried, had some confidence. "The Goblins take this sort of thing personally, Ron and Ginny are most capable and have some capable friends. Perhaps we could ask them for their asistance?"

"Oh my, Yes indeed." Molly brightened up. "They are such nice children too, even if they have been through so much. I'm sure they will help."

* * *

Ginny frowned as the owl flew towards her. The five were relaxing on the grass infront of the lake on the day after the NEWTS had ended. They'd made an effort to join the rather large group which were having a rather large picnic infront of the lake. Houses were to some extent, discarded as the seventh year students mingled, played and relaxed. Holding up her hand, Ginny let the owl land and took the message. Then she began to read. 

"Holy Helga's Hooters!" Ginny had gone pale. "Ron, Bill's been kidnaped!"

The other four froze and turned to regard their friend.

"Details?" Ron had put down his sandwich and was all business.

"Mum and Dad dont know much, just that his clock hand is wavering between Mortal Danger and Unknown. They wanted us to know as soon as they found out. The Goblins have begun a search and Mum and Dad will speak to us tomorrow."

Harry frowned, his brow creasing. "Neville, tomorrow, talk with Madame Bones, see what she can tell us about whats going on in the world. Ron, Ginny, talk to your parents. Your dad is head of DMLE, see what sort of information he can give us. Something isnt sitting right and we dont have enough information. Hermione, if she's available this afternoon, see if Greengrass wants to have a little chat about what you spoke about after the DADA NEWT. If you can, see if she knows anything about whats been going on." With that, he stood up. "I'm going to go for a little walk."

The others nodded, though looked a bit curious as Harry pulled on a shirt, slung his towel over his shoulder and walked back towards the castle.

As he casually made his way through the quiet halls, Harry idly fingered his wand. Then he opened the door to what seemed like an abandoned class room and walked in, flicking up privacy and silencing charms as he did. Inside, Draco Malfoy leant against a wall.

"Well?"Harry regarded the Slytherin, his expression carefully neutral.

Draco sighed softly and nodded. "Yes, I did want to speak to you, No, I have no bloody clue how you manged to speak into my head like that. Now, before I tell you what I want to tell you, I want something in return."

"Possibly, there is the possibility you might get something, however, that depends on what it is you want and what sort of information you are willing to provide for it. I dont like you Malfoy, I dont trust you and I'm sure as hell going to take everything you say with several large grains of salt. I have no reason to take anything you say as anything but a potential trap. You and yours tried to kill Hermione."

Draco brightened slightly, a hint of a smirk crossing his face. "Of course, You need to be aware that I canot be trusted. Any information I get may well be suspect to begin with. Yes I tried to kill the Mudblood, but really, you knew exactly what I was going to do. You manipulated the entire situation, playing me like a bloody fiddle. Now, All I want in return for this information is a single piece of knowledge. The new Wards on Hogwarts. Do they stop Portkeys going in both directions?"

Harry eyed the blonde cautiously. "The answer to that will depend on the information you provide."

"Ah, of course, that whole absolute lack of trust thing. Of course. Now, before I give the information, you need to be aware of certain things. First and foremost is that I am not good, nor nice. I am a complete bastard at times. I have no interest in anything that doesnt profit me in any way. Right now, my single greatest concern is my own descent into debauchery. Or should I say, my long delayed descent. Right now, there is only one thing preventing me. My father. I'm sure you know what kind of a person my father is. I also dont care how you know. I suspect you know far more than you let on. Now, the information." Draco drew out a hip flask from a pocket and took swig before offering it to Harry, who simply shook his head, "Ah well, your loss. this is hundred year old firewhiskey. Now, my father owled my today. In the message was a single feather, an eagles feather no less, that he infomed me, was a Portkey to the Manor with the usual activation phrase, I'm sure you already know what it is." Draco took anoher swig. "Now the interesting bit, is that he said I might need it, if anyhting happened tomorrow." Draco took a step back nervously as Harry's eyes narrowed."No hitting me, i'm just the drunk guy who doesnt want to die. My father has been insulted by you and the Headmaster, because I was put into the position that I was and the resulting debts. He is more thna a bit vengeful. Not too shabby with the dark curses either. Now, I'm willing to bet that this Portkey wont work, thus i'll be unable to escape anything he had planned for tomorrow. You are the new big fish and I dont want to die. Thus the information. You know what? Sod it.Screw the informaiton about the wards. I'd put money that my portkey wont work. Instead, because I'm giving you this warning, I want someting in return. Something that I'm sure you wont complain about. I want my father gone. If he puts any of your friends or yourself at risk, you have a reason to eliminate him. Get him busted by the ministry, Kill him in a duel, I dont care. I just want him gone. In return, I'l leave you and yours alone. Deal?"

Harry remained motionless for a few seconds. Then nodded once, turned and walked out of the room, leaving a shaking Malfoy behind to slump to the floor. "Damm, the bastard probably already knows how scary he is. Still, least he didn't kill me. Now, how to best play this angle…"

* * *

Bill Weasley hung limply from the chains that held him upright. Along three of the walls, his team-mates, his closest friends, hung from their own chains. Each shivered not just from the cold, but from the residual agony of the Cruciatus. 

"Now, Mr Weasley, I will ask once again. How would you like to work for a consortium of wizards who would like you and your team to use their skills to perform some curse-breaking? In return for your services, not only will you get to live, but your team-mates will get to live as well."

Bill groaned slightly as he looked up, through bloodshot eyes to regard his captor. "Why don't you go kiss a Dementor!" He spat out.

The hooded Wizard smiled faintly and nodded. "As expected. Very well, at least I have your attention. Now, some of my collegues have been trying to persuade me that killing a random member of your team for each day you refuse may prove successful in gaining your cooperation. However, I have something more," He paused to savour the words for a moment. "Attention getting, shall we say. Now, as you are your friends are well aware, we wont hesitate to use Unforgiveables upon you. However you are all stern young men with strength of will. You may fear pain and death but it will not break you. Your families are not so strong. As such, since we know who you all are, Beginning tomorrow, if your answer is still no, we will seek out your families, one family at a time. Then we will torture them, we will abuse them, the women will be raped in the most brutal way we can think of, possibly by Trolls if some are available. Then they will be bought in before you and have the Cruciatus used upon them until their minds snap and they are left as broken mindless husks. Finally, the men will have their limbs amputated and they will be left in your family home while the women, no matter the age, will be tortured some more before having their souls removed for the use in Power Enhancing rituals before their bodies are animated as undead guardians to assist us." He paused to savour the looks of horror upon their faces. "Finally, if, after all your families are gone and you still refuse to work with us, we will first use the Imperius curse to make you have sexual relations with your undead women folk before torturing you to death and animating your corpses. Then, we will simply go and find another team. Please note, that while you have the best reputation in your profession, you are by no means irreplaceable." He nodded in satisfaction at the looks of pain and horror they were displaying. "Now, I'm not unreasonable. I firmly believe that a choice should always be carefully considered and never blindly leapt into. As such, I will return tomorrow to receive your decision. Gentlemen" He bowed faintly in Bill's direction, turned and exited the room. The steel cell door clanging shut behind him.

* * *

Authors Notes: Neville was talking about the Wizarding World, when he was talking about the body count. By my estimations, there are 8-10 thousand magical folk in the UK, thus, of those, 3-4 thousand died. That's incredibly harsh on a small breeding population and that's why he said it was the worst war ever. So many died that it will be centuries before the population fully recovers. 


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer : It's all hers. Even the pants.

Authors Note: Yes, it's late and not as long as i'd hoped. I've moved house twice and am only just getting my act together.

Correction : I had Bill present. He shouldnt be, It should have been Charlie. Thanks to those that pointed this mistake to me. Let this lesson be leant. Sleep deprivation and writing leads to mistakes.

* * *

The final day of Hogwarts for the travelers was not particularly bright or sunny. Nor was it cloud free, indeed, it was slightly overcast. The program for the day was well known, indeed, it was unchanged in the past five hundred years. Two hours before lunch or thereabouts before accurate time-keeping was invented, the leaving students would gather, dressed for the final time in their school robes. They would be addressed by the Headmaster before each was called forward. Significant events and achievements were listed and then the Minister for Magic would shake them by the hand and announce that now, they were a fully qualified wizard or witch. Following this, if any titles were now due the wizard or witch, they would be proclaimed by their Head of House. It was this act that had what some considered the most significance as Heirs were formally proclaimed, Titles claimed and even the occasional blood feud settled. This ceremony was handled with all due pomp and ceremony. Indeed, some of the more wealthy and prestigious households, had been known to send a House Elf to reserve them 'proper' seats, as long as two days before the event.

Today however, Sirius Black had simply let it be known that he, along with the Weasley Twins and Remus Lupin, had cooked up what they thought may be their greatest work yet. As well, that they were planning on hexing the entire front row of the seats with it, to affect anyone who wasn't a Weasley, Black or Lupin. Malfoy's shouldn't even try.

As such, it was a small red haired horde that was streaming through the main gates, along with other parents and potential spectators. All dressed in their finest robes, such was the prestige of attending a 'eventful' ceremony, that more than a few magical folk would take the day off work, under the pretense of celebrating a distant relative's graduation, just so they could attend to see the ceremony, this coming of age for a group of young wizards and witches, not to mention a rather nice free lunch and party afterwards.

However, for a small group of students, the morning was not one of rushing about, doing the final touches on their uniforms, nor chatting with the family; rather, they had been up since before dawn.

"I'm telling you Streak, something tripped the wards. I have no idea what it was but I got a few regular pulses and now nothing. It might have been a portkey or more likely, a group of them dropping something in. It needs to be checked out." Ron was buttoning up his shirt as he spoke. He'd already done a patrol of the border of the forbidden forest and now was getting ready.

"Ok Paws, Brains and I will do a fly-by before the ceremony. I agree with you though, something is going on. Between Malferret's warning and the other goings on in the wizarding world, there is something nasty brewing and frankly, today is too sweet a prize for an up and comer." Harry frowned and then looked up at his friends. Ok, sorry to do this, but I want battle kit today. Dragon hide, blades, wands and guns. Full potions for everyone and all the rest. Not skirmish either. Better safe than sorry, so shrunken broomsticks in the pocket and everything. Stripes, I want glamour's on everyone to hide it all, make us look like we are in ordinary school uniform." He paused in thought for a moment. "Ok, if something goes down, Cub, team up with Brains to protect the crowd if you can. Stripes, skirmish. If there is a group, I need to be sure of numbers and that no one is sneaking in around the back or something. Paws and I will try to hold the bad guys or guy back until we can get a better picture." His eyes flashed with determination. "Normal rules apply. None of us die; try not to let innocents die and any bad guys who don't die are used for information gathering. Use your heads, don't get separated from your partner, Stripes, that means you be extra careful. Don't hesitate to call for backup. Anyone want to say something?"

Ginny grinned slightly, a hint of sadness on her face. "I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to this."

Neville just nodded. "You always did like a good fight Stripes, just be careful."

Ginny smiled sadly and nodded. "Yeah, the fight is fun, I just don't like the aftermath, and I hate loosing anyone. We've lost too many."

Silence filed their common room.

* * *

It was an unusual pair of birds that caught a thermal off the lake, spiraling upwards before flying off over the forest. An Owl and a Goshawk were not usually seen flying together. However, between their naturally sharp eyes and magic's placed upon them, their ability to detect possible threats was almost unparalleled. That the goshawk's feathers at the top of his head were ruffled in a manner than no amount of preening ever seemed to be able to get them to lay flat, was as good a clue as any as to it's identity.

Catching the breeze that rippled through the tree's they flew with surprising speed, back and forth across the forest until the Goshawk suddenly gave a shriek of rage and turned. Diving downwards its wings folded back as it shot into the canopy. After a few seconds, the goshawk shot out of the canopy and with a nod to the owl, started flying back towards Hogwarts at quite the rate of knots.

The pair flew in through a tower window, shifting into the forms of Harry and Hermione. Turning to the others, Harry looked grim.

"Zombies. A whole lot of Zombies as well as some other types of things I have never seen before. Not too many though, looked like maybe five, I didn't exactly stick around, just a fast flyby."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Harry, I've told you this time and again, they are Inferi. Lesser undead created by inserting a pseudo soul into a corpse to provide it with an animating motive force. "

"Infairy's, Inferi, Zombies, it's all the same thing. Silly wizards renaming something the Muggle came up with long ago" Harry chuckled. "Anyway, lots of them. Fire spells freak them out, Explosion curses put them down, Fire keeps them there. I'm thinking, slight change of plans. Stripes, I need you keeping an eye on the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Cub and Brains are on defense. I don't want anyone hurt. Paws and I are on offence. Mate, flame freezing charms, burny swords of burnyness and fire shields?"

Ron nodded soberly.

"Right, lets get kitted up, Stripes can illusion us up and we can go schmooze.

* * *

Five students, dressed in the standard Hogwarts robes joined the crowd on the front lawn. Today was the last formal day of their schooling for the students. In a month, they would be receiving their NEWTS and joining the wizarding world as adults. Today, their achievements were to be recognized. A small throng of redheads descended upon the group where Molly seemed torn between who to hug first in pride, though she solved the issue by hugging both Ron and Ginny at once, sobbing happily.

"You know" Hermione mused to Harry. "I honestly think that Molly might be on the verge of rupturing something if she keeps up like this."

Harry just chuckled and nudged her in the side. "She'll be fine. It's only been six months since we arrived, she'll need at least a year to calm down, which means that we wont run short of dinner invitations."

Hermione fixed Harry with a stern glare, bellied by the twitching in the corners of her mouth. "That is highly mercenary of you Harry Potter! I'm shocked that you could voice such an opinion"

"You are? Why? Because you didn't think of it first?" He quickly ducked under her swat and stepped sideways to casually elbow Sirius Black in the ribs. "So how's your day been Padfoot?"

Sirius, who was busily bending over and attempting to catch his breath, waved his hand at Harry dismissively. "I'm fine…" gasp "Just a bit winded" Wheeze "caught me by surprise is all."

Harry smirked and patted him on the back. "Good, because I need you to be on your toes today."

Instantly, Sirius was upright and looking concerned. "Is there going to be a problem? Or a Prank?"

Harry sighed and cuffed his dogfather around the back of his head. "Be serious Padfoot, and no I don't mean it as a joke. If anything happens, I want you to keep the Weasley's under control and get them into the Great Hall. It's just a suspicion, maybe the fact that I'm more paranoid than Mad-Eye on a bad day might count for something, but keep your wand loose."

Sirius nodded and grinned manically. "Does this mean that if something does happen, I can hex Snivillus?"

Harry nodded solemnly. "Indeed it does. Just don't get caught and blame the twins."

"Well, I suppose I can do that, I mean, it's always worked so well in the past."

The ceremony was, to most of the participants, rather enjoyable. Professor Dumbledore's speech was short, unusual and contained and anecdote about lemon drops. Professor McGonagall gave a rather stern speech about how adults have a responsibility to mature and provide a responsible role model for future generations of Witches and Wizards. The fact that she spent the entire speech glaring at the Weasley Twins and Sirius Black was not lost on anyone. Especially when the waved merrily to her, before cowering under the wrath of her glare.

It was during the later half of the Ceremony, the part most enjoyed by the Parents, where the dutiful students were called up to receive their official recognition from the Ministry of their adulthood, then have Mr Ollivander himself remove the tracking charms from their wands, that problems occurred.

"McMillan, Ernest" Was called out when the sky overhead seemed to ripple, turning a pale green for a second. Up on the podium, Professor Dumbledore first paled, and then clenched his teeth. Amongst the students, Neville Longbottom seemed to stiffen before turning to nod to Harry, sudden drips of perspiration beginning to form on his forehead.

"Sorry Mate, not gonna be able to do much right now." Shouts of confusion were beginning to erupt from the crowd. "We don't have the full wards active; don't have time to put them up either. They've cooked off about fifty of the fuckers but the rest are getting through, along with some Dementors and two things I've never met before. Orders?"

Around them, students and adults were drawing their wands as a wail filled the air.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" The Headmaster's voice boomed out over the crowd. "May I have your attention please? There seems to be a disturbance in the Wards, possibly due to the nature of the new wards feeding into the old wards. Could I ask you all to make your way into the Great Hall, it should be set up by the time you get there and we can continue the ceremony." The Headmaster fixed Harry with his blue eyes and nodded to him. A nod that Harry returned as he tapped Neville on the shoulder, making a cutting motion across his throat. Neville nodded and seemed to relax. "There is no reason for concern."

A chill seemed to creed across the crowd as the sky darkened. Sirius Black had already gotten the Weasley's moving. His barked out orders were jumped to by the Twins, while Charlie was hustling his mother into the school proper.

"Fuck, Dementors." Harry's face became an emotionless mask, as his friends did the same. Standing, the glamour's on their robes faded into nothing to reveal their dragon hide combat robes.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_" bellowed out of five sets of lungs. Five animals leapt over the crowed, luminous white even in broad daylight. A stag, cat, shaggy looking large dog, a vulture and a lion bounded across the lawn towards the Forbidden Forest, where half a doze Dementors were emerging.

"I hate Dementors, I really HATE them" Hermione was muttering as the five pushed through the now panicking crowd. Emerging from the back of the mob, the five paused to see what was coming. The Dementors had been pushed back and were trying to spread out, the delicious taste of panic driving them onwards. However they were ignored for the moment as first one, then dozens of Inferi emerged from the tree line.

"Give them time to get clear of the trees. Last thing we need is Bane accusing us of trying to burn the forest down." Harry paused to consider the situation. "Right, Stripes, Brains, make sure everyone is inside who's going inside, that includes all your family. They aren't prepared for this. If Cub's parents want to stay, they can. They and Dumbledore faced these in the seventies. Cub, I want artillery, fifty yards from the tree line, Paws, you are with me, fire attacks until they close, then explosion charms and blades. Stripes, Brains, once the civilians are clear, protect the flanks. Everyone watch out for whatever the two new things are. If you see one, keep back from it and start blatting it. Don't hesitate to call for backup. Cub, you are backup. Get Dumbledore to help if he can. Everyone clear?" Harry looked to them quickly. "Go!" Then he drew his sword. Next to him, Neville produced his staff and began chanting while Ron pulled his sword out from the scabbard across his back.

The girls moved quickly, using stinging hexes to hurry along the trio of reporters who were trying to hide and takes notes at the same time. Ignoring the Longbottoms, who had drawn their own wands and were moving up to where the defenders were standing, they tried to speed up the retreat of those they considered civilians into the safety of the castle.

"Miss Granger!" Professor Snape drew himself up to his full height. "You will desist from this behavior. You are still a student here and I am a Profess.." Hermione hadn't even bothered talking; rather, she stunned the arrogant man and quickly banished him, rather roughly, into the entrance hall.

* * *

"Ok, that's the last of them that I can see." Ginny quickly crossed her fingers as she peered around; hoping she wouldn't see anyone else before she crossed her fingers and hopped the Castle still liked her. "Lock em down Hogwarts" She gave a brief squeal of joy as she felt a loving caress of her magic by the castle and the doors to the entrance hall boomed shut. "Holy Shit! It worked!"

"Language Ginny! This may be about to be a battlefield but your mother might have something to say about your choice of words." Hermione smirked at her friend as she began tightening the buckles on her gauntlet.

Ginny, who was in the middle of charming her hair to be tied back, simply stuck out her tongue in a most mature manner.

"Right." Ginny quickly pulled a dark green scarf up to cover her mouth and nose. "Let's go kick some zombie"

Harry paused in looking over the approaching hoard to regard the master Aurors who were looking at Neville in admiration. "Right, you two faced these in the seventies right?" He nodded, not even waiting for an answer. "As you aren't wearing dragon hide, I want you to keep back. Stick to explosion curses, cutting curses if you think you can be accurate enough. Decapitation will take them down, fire will slow them down but I don't know if you know any decent long range burning hexes. Keep at least twenty yards between you and them; don't worry if you have to fall back. For the love of Merlin, don't close with them and don't get hurt. Keep them off our left flank ok?"

Frank Longbottom stiffened slightly and snapped off a salute. His respect for the young lord growing even further. Alice saluted as well, before they both moved to the right.

Once the shambling hoard was a bit closer, Harry stabbed his sword into the ground and drew his second wand. "FIRE" and a gout of roiling blue fire leapt from the wands. Magic and flames dancing between the two balls as they smashed into the closest Inferi. Neville, who was now reaching a crescendo, gestured with his staff as a red ball arced from the top of his staff, into the centre of the mobile corpses. There it erupted into a seething ball of flames. Bits of rotting corpses were sent flying into the air while those closest to the edge of the thirty foot wide explosion were knocked over.

Neville shrugged at the shocked looks from his parents. "Battle magic, it fell out of usage after the sixteen hundreds. Most books on it were destroyed." He then planted his staff and began chanting again.

Ron was being more destructive on an individual level. Crouched in a stance, his wand flicked and woke as a veritable stream of explosion curses flew from his wand, to where they tore great chunks from individual zombies, which fell to pieces as the animating magic was rent asunder.

The Longbottoms were using the same tactic, with not just greater speed than Ron, but greater accuracy too. Decades of working together shone through as Frank destroyed the legs, while Alice used cutting curses to decapitate.

Moving up, next to Neville, Hermione frowned for a few moments before nodding, her face blank as she concentrated and then, from the palm of her gauntlet, a ray of purple light struck out. Moving it back and forth, she neatly burnt through the necks of Inferi, each one taking only a few seconds.

Harry frowned, noticing that the patronii were beginning to fade, indeed one of the Dementors had slipped past them and was far too close for his liking.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" A shaggy, grim like patronus bounded past him as Ginny moved out to the left, then gesturing with her basilisk fang short sword, a jet of green, poisonous looking flame lanced out to bathe across Inferi. She blinked in shock as first one, and then another form stepped through the burning ambulatory corpses. Wrapped in smoldering bandages and half crouched, the two forms stalked towards her, ignoring the flames that splashed off them harmlessly.

"Um, Guys? Little help here? Brains?" Ginny looked a bit nervous as first her flames, then a cutting curse were ignored. "What the hell are these things?" She took a step backwards before frowning, sighing and aiming with her wand. Her face twisted into a rictus of hatred for a moment before she uttered "_Avada Kedavra_" The sickly emerald green light lashed out to connect with the torso of the first thing, which paused before screeching out a cry of agony and collapsing in on itself. She blinked in shock and then with a resigned look, focused her hatred and anger once more and the second of the things fell. Gasping for breath, she took another step back. This time, not in fear, but horror as she stared at her wand.

"Stripes!" Harry paused in his casting and leapt over to her catching her around the shoulders with one arm. Later, we deal with it later. Nothing will happen, I swear it to you. It'll be ok." He ignored the looks of shock from the master Aurors that were being sent in their direction. "You'll be ok, but we need to deal with this lot first. I need you to keep the Dementors busy, can you do that?"

Ginny's face set in a scowl of determination before she raised her wand and sent off another of her Patronus to harass and drive back the Dementors.

It didn't take long for the Dementors, under attack and with the lingering emotions in the air fading into nothing, to break and flee back into the forest, leaving Ginny, gasping for breath from sustaining multiple Patronus, on her knees behind her friends as she tried for force herself to recover.

The line drawn by the group was slowly pushed back by the horde, admittedly, their tactics were working, but in the time it takes to destroy one, two more would step forward till the group was retreating, one step at a time. Not breaking, they were slowly driven backwards, keeping their distance from the Inferi till finally, as they were about to split to go around the Podium, the last of the creatures was destroyed.

Covered in sweat, they looked at each other for a moment. Hermione was learning on Neville, her free hand trembling. Alice and Frank collapsed onto chair. Frank using a handkerchief to mop sweat from his face.

"Well, that was fun." Harry, despite the haggard sound of his voice, was still standing straight. "I think we can leave it to the Ministry to mop up if there is anything out there." He leant against the podium. "Did anyone get a rough guestimate of their numbers?"

Hermione nodded. "Over two hundred. Whoever raised them must have depopulated some graveyards. That should give us some clues."

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, we need to find out who they are and fast. They just pissed me off." He glared at the skeletal red dragon that was flying in place over the Forbidden Forest that had appeared during the fight.

"Harry" Neville smirked. "We already have a good guess as to who it is; we just cant go marauding yet to get proof."

"Yet, my friend. Yet."

* * *

AN/ Well, an attack at Hogwarts, Zombies, Longbottoms in action. The adventure continues. 


	18. Chapter 18

It all belongs to Ms Rowling. I own nothing. Not even pants.

* * *

Frank Longbottom pulled a regulation issue flask of pepper-up potion from his pocket, took a swig and offered it to Alice. As the steam stopped spouting out his ears, he frowned in concern. Beside him, Alice corked the flask and tucked it back into his pocket. 

"We won't say anything"

Frank blinked and turned to regard his wife. "Excuse me?" He looked a touch confused.

"We will not be mentioning anything about what Miss Weasley cast. As far as we are concerned, we were busy with our own spell casting. We didn't see her deal with those things, but we did notice the bodies in passing, before they started decomposing. That is all."

Frank frowned, and fingered his wand for a few moments as he thought it through. "It's interesting, we were on the other side of the fight to her, and we couldn't have seen anything. Too many people in the way."

Alice smiled faintly and kissed his temple. "You are a good man Frank Longbottom. Look at her, the poor girl is punishing herself enough."

Frank just nodded. "I've felt the same way every time I've had to cast it too." With that, he calmly wrapped his arms around his wife as they gazed out over a field covered in decomposing corpses. "You know, as distasteful as this view is. You know what it reminds me of?"

A low chuckle from Alice was all the confirmation he needed. "Our fourth date. You always did know how to show a girl a good time. Our lovely dinner interrupted by the attack, the Inferi horde, the duels and finally you stepping in front of the cutting curse that I wasn't going to be able to block. That was when I knew I was going to have to marry you, you know that Frank? There was no way in hell that I was going to let you go after that."

He nuzzled her neck softly before speaking again. "Is it just me, or have far too many major events in our lives been accompanied by a fight of some kind? I only asked you out after seeing you duel that Death Eater. I'd fallen for you after your second bludgeoning hex broke his shoulder. Our first date had those muggers, the fourth had the attack. The Honeymoon had those assassins. Not to mention the shootout we were caught in that Muggle bank a week after Neville was born."

Alice laughed softly, leaning into her husband. "My love, face it, if things like that didn't happen. You'd get bored."

"Well, possibly, it does give me a good excuse to keep my eye in."

"Frank" Her tone was dry, but amused. "The last time one of the recruits asked why you were off to practice dueling, your excuse was 'it's a day ending in Y'. "

Frank just smirked before kissing her more fully.

* * *

"Cub?" 

"Yeah?" Neville looked up at Ron from where he was seated on the ground.

"I don't know how to tell you this man, but if we don't interrupt, I think your parents are going to be getting funky on the front lawn" Ron looked slightly ill. "Old people shouldn't be acting like that. It's just wro... ow!" He winced and rubbed the back of his head, where Hermione had cuffed him. "What did you do that for?"

Hermione just fixed him with a gimlet glare for a moment before continuing to unbuckle her Gauntlet. "Leave him alone Ron. It's not like he wants to interrupt his parents mid snog. Besides, it's a good thing that they still feel that way about each other, even at their age."

Neville shuddered slightly and looked up, into the sky. "Ok beautiful, you can let them out now. Thank you for keeping everyone safe." He smiled slightly as he felt Hogwarts respond and then the huge doors began to ponderously swing open

From out of the doorway came those teachers and adults brave enough to face any threat to the students. In all, the Weasleys, Sirius Black, the teachers and no more than a dozen other adults. The group paused in their rush as they beheld the smoking battlefield that the front lawn had become. Ron and Hermione were, with casual flicks of their wands, piling the slowly decaying bodies over to the side.

"Well." Albus Dumbledore blinked slowly as he looked over the scene. "This was most unexpected. Please, do tell me what transpired here? Mr. Potter?"

Harry gently passed off Ginny to Neville, who she latched onto. "Headmaster. I had thought it would be fairly obvious. A combined force of Dementors and Inferi had been directed to attack the school. The Dementors were driven off and the Inferi were destroyed. Master Auror's Longbottom were of vital assistance, I suggest writing to the Minister to let her know of their performance in protecting the Staff and Students as well as guests from harm." A hint of a smirk touched his otherwise impassive face. "Otherwise, I'm sure you could tell her in person. Though while it gains in personalization, it lacks in formality. Now, the corpses are being piled up for examination by the DMLE for possible identification. No one was hurt, though some are more emotional than others. Those of us who participated in the defense are somewhat tired; otherwise, everything seems to be fine. Is there anything else you wish to know about Headmaster? Or can we continue with the ceremony?" The cold formality of his voice made Dumbledore blink in shock, before his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Very well Mr. Potter, I agree, the ceremony should continue. However, it will take a few minutes to finish setting everything up again."

"Of course Headmaster." Harry nodded and turned to walk over to his friends.

It took almost an hour for the ceremony to recommence and after another hour, it was over. The newly graduated students cheering as they made their way back into the great hall for their leaving feast. The atmosphere was joyous, with just a hint of nervous tension. The food was good and it appeared that Molly Weasley had both Sirius Black and her own Twins cowed enough that they were not pranking anyone.

Far too soon for many, the feast was over. The now graduated students said their goodbyes to their parents and headed off to their respective houses. Parents headed home and a tentative peace descended upon the castle. In the Gryffindor common room, hidden behind silencing charms, a scene was being played out that was mirrored in the other three. The seventh years were having their final night at Hogwarts. The other years had been sent off to their dormitories and careful wards had been put up to prevent teacher interruption.

"So I said, Pet, I said Love, I said Pet, you can lead a hippogriff to water but you can't make him drink," Seamus Finnegan was drunk. However he was not alone in this state of affairs. Beside him, Lavender Brown was staring at the shot glass that was tucked into her cleavage. A small slice of lemon was resting on one breast and a small amount of salt was on the other.

"This is a Muggle tradition? It seems a bit, you know, raunchy?" Her expression was one of a mixture of delight and apprehension.

Dean Thomas grinned. "Yeah, it can be, but unlike some other methods of doing this, our clothes are staying on."

"Oh," Lavender, in her intoxicated state, wasn't sure weather to be pleased, or upset.

Off to the side, five other ex students sat in a complicated tangle of body parts. Careful examination would later reveal that Ginny was on both Harry and Neville's laps. Hermione sat in front of the couch, leaning against both Ron and Harry.

"So, tomorrow we leave," Hermione sounded a bit despondent. "Seems wrong somehow. This is our home."

"I know." Harry sipped his firewhiskey. He, like the other four, was being careful not to get too drunk. "But this chapter is over. Tomorrow, we split up. Everyone has a mirror and it's not like we won't see each other constantly. However, we need to start building lives here. We also have to find out who this new Dork Lord is and kill him, not to mention, find Bill."

Ginny nodded an expression of worry on her face. "He's hiding somewhere uplottable and most likely under the fidelius. Well, being hidden. I've managed to find out from Gringotts that his entire team went missing on the same day he did. So most likely, it's a ward breaking job and whoever has them, doesn't want anyone else to know what's going on. From that, I can give us rough time frames before something else happens." She sighed slightly. "Ok, now their team is the best." A hint of sibling pride shone through her concern. "Whatever they are working on is most likely ancient and difficult. Bill, our Bill, once told me that his team could crack through dangerous wards in two months, difficult dangerous wards in three, and the Hogwarts wards in six. So we have at least three months before anything major."

Ron blinked. "How do you figure three months?"

"It's simple really. They will be working under duress. That will slow things down. Then they will also be subtly sabotaging themselves to draw it out. It's only when the lives of his team are at threat that they will work normally."

"Of course" Hermione nodded. "And they will have an advantage over their abductors because if the wards crash, they will destroy what is inside most likely, so they have to be cautious. Well, that's some good news at least."

"Oh Ron?" Parvati's voice drifted over to where they were. "Can you help us with something?" The girl in question was tilting slightly due to inebriation and a touch owl eyed, however a wicked smile graced her lips.

"What's up Parvati?" Ron looked slightly curious.

"Well, we were talking and I couldn't help but wonder, can I see your tattoos?" Beside her, Lavender was giggling into Seamus' shoulder.

Ron flushed red and was obviously looking for a polite way to decline when Harry nudged him. "Oh go on Paws, show her. It's not like you to be so modest." Harry had a masterful straight face up.

Ron sighed and stood up, the playful mood in the room and some Firewhiskey obviously influencing him more than he'd admit. Removing his robes, he sighed and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"You want some appropriate music Ron?" Ginny was giggling now as Neville bounced a Knut off his friend.

"Take it off!" was all Neville got out before receiving a scowl and a shirt in the face.

"Well?" Ron, shirtless, stepped closer to the Indian beauty. "Is this what you wanted to see?" He teasingly gave a bit of a flex.

Parvati shook her head slightly, her smile growing more wicked. "Not really Ron. I mean, you still have your vest on don't you?"

Ron sighed and undid the shoulder straps before pulling off the vest. He wasn't shy by any stretch of the imagination, but the way he was being regarded made him feel a little uncomfortable. "I don't suppose you wanted to see them for any particular reason?" His voice sounded higher than usual.

"Oh, mainly because I wanted to see you with your shirt off." Parvati ran one finger over the Gryffindor crest over his heart. "It's pretty rare for someone to show that much house loyalty to get a tattoo?"

"Ah, well, we all did. A sort of reminder of where we came from." The famous Weasley Blush was making a fast comeback "You know, remember that we were all…." His voice trailed off.

"It's a reminder of why we fought." Harry's voice came across as firm and uncompromising. "We are Gryffindor, we are of the Light. Gryffindors never give up. Never give in. Never surrender."

"Yeah, that's it" Ron nodded firmly. "No matter what, Gryffindors don't give up."

Parvati smiled and nodded. "True. So that would explain the Phoenix as well, pure Light. To have a magical tattoo of a Phoenix, does that mean that one had to allow it? Or is it just a picture?"

Ron shook his head slightly and touched a finger to her lips. "Don't ask questions that you know you won't get an answer to. I'm not going to spill our secrets. Not now, not ever."

Parvati just grinned. "Well, even if you don't, think of all the fun I'm going to have trying to get you to. This is our last night Ron; I'm not going to let an opportunity like this go to waste." With that, she grabbed his hand and started dragging him up to the girl's dorms entrance. Muttering something as she walked through the entrance, no alarms went off and then they were both gone upstairs.

"Bloody Hell!" Lavender was caught between shock and laughter. "I knew she was after him, but even for her, that's bold." Soon the others were too busy laughing to speak.

* * *

The next day dawned bright and sunny. Birds were singing, the sun was shining and chaos abounded around the school. Students did last minute packing, hunting for lost or forgotten items. In the Gryffindor seventh year, girl's dormitory, Ron Weasley, still looking slightly shell shocked, silently un-shrunk the broom that he carried and flew out the window. Making a few turns, he flew in the window to the common room for the travelers. 

"Bloody Hell!" He rolled off his broom to flop on a couch before turning to regard an amused looking Hermione who had been sitting in one of the armchairs, reading a large book. "I don't suppose you have some pepper-up, muscle relaxant and nutrient potions handy do you?"

Hermione chuckled softly. "No Ron, but I do know that breakfast is being served for another hour, which should give you plenty of time to shower and get changed before going down to eat. Harry has already packed your trunk, so that's all you need to worry about."

Nodding, Ron pulled himself to his feet and stumbled off.

* * *

All too soon, students were climbing into the Hogwarts Express. Trunks were shrunk and compartments expanded. In one particular compartment, no less than fifteen leaving students were seated in comfortable couches that had been conjured. 

"So what does everyone plan to do now?" Susan Bones asked, from where she was perched, a touch primly, on Neville's lap.

"Sleep." Came the groaned out reply from a still hung over Seamus. "Need sleep."

"Aww, poor little Seamus was worn out by the big bad Lavender was he?" Dean's tone was filled with muffled laughter.

"Are you calling me big?" Lavender eyed her friend dangerously, who rapidly paled and began to stutter out apologies, denials and pleas for mercy. The resulting laughter from the rest of the group resulting in blushes as well.

"Well, I'm going on holidays." Hannah piped up. "With Eloise and Tracey. We leave in three days. First stop, Paris, and then after we do Europe, it's off to the colonies. We've been saving and preparing for it for two years."

"So, it's not a honeymoon then? Hoping for some summer romance?" Susan teased her friend.

"Oh not like that." Hannah went bright red. "No, we will be going Muggle about a third of the time. The only firm dates we've made are New Years Eve in Sydney, Australia and Valentines Day in Cape Town."

Blaise Zabini smirked and rummaged in a pocket for a few moments before pulling out an ice chest, un-shrinking it and then offering out butterbeers. "I've got a month off and then it's on to the family business." A hint of a sly grin visible. "It's going to be tough, but at least I'll be able to hit up some of the guards for dueling training."

"So, Blaise, Blackmail, Extortion and Stand Over?" Tracey Davis grinned and tossed the cork from her butterbeer at him.

"Bah! Bah I say to you and your doubting ways!" Blaise laughed and then turned to grin at Lavender. "And now that we are no longer at school, you don't have an excuse to turn me down because you are a Gryffindor and I am a Slytherin. What say you? Might I be able to offer you a night of fine dining and dancing?"

Lavender blushed slightly. "I'll think about it. However, wouldn't it concern your family if you were to be seen with a Half-Blood?"

Blaise shook his head, his face serious. "No. Simply put, the Zabini family has always cared more about ability than blood. While I am Pureblood, my Great Aunt is Muggleborn, yet no one dared look down on at her or disparage her. She, like everyone, earned her place in our family.

Lavender sat back, thinking for a moment, before nodding slowly. "I think, I will accept. Just the once, I don't know what you are like as a person. Saturday night."

Blaise nodded. "It's a date, as the colonials say."

The rest of the group grinned at the conversation.

While this was going on, Harry pulled a brightly wrapped gift from a pocket and placed it on Hermione's lap. "As promised, one Graduation Gift. Wrapped and all."

Hermione squealed and started shredding the paper covering what was clearly a book shaped gift. "Oh Merlin, Malefic Potions, Volume 3. I can't believe you found a copy! I'd almost forgotten that I didn't have this volume. It completes my set too!" She bounced happily in her seat, hugging the old book to her chest. Across the compartment from her, there was an almost collective blink.

"Malefic Potions? You own a set of Malefic Potions? That's rarer than Most Potente Potions! Not to mention illegal as hell, banned in almost all the Wizarding nations world wide for the dark nature of the potions, not to mention the harm that some of them have done!" Susan Bones was horrified. " I can't believe you own such a vile text."

Hermione blinked and cocked her head "Really? You've read the series then? Obviously you must have to know so much about it. As opposed to hearing a hysterical third hand viewpoint that you had someone else make for you?" Her voice was scorn filled as she defended her gift.

Susan retreated, looking like she had been slapped. "Excuse me? It's common knowledge. Merlin on a Broom, the title alone is a dead giveaway! Evil Potions!"

Hermione smirked. "Really, It's common knowledge eh? Like it's common knowledge that I died. If you've never done the research and never read it, how can you have an informed opinion, rather than just being a sheep and letting people make your opinions for you?"

"Enough!" Neville's voice cut through the argument. "That is enough from both of you. Hermione, you don't need to be so hostile. Susan, I don't think you even know what is in there, why don't you find out before rendering judgment?"

Susan blushed and nodded before regarding a now red Hermione. "Might I know what potions are listed in there?"

Hermione nodded and carefully opened the text; she smirked faintly at the dedication in the front. "To my beloved Tiberius on our wedding day, Lucretia. I can't believe people would vandalise texts like this with a dedication. Anyway, moving on, the list of potions is actually fairly small; it seems to cover lunar influences on potions. There is an entire chapter here dedicated to the nature of the metals used in cauldron creation. Oh my, this is progressive, considering it was written in the 1400's. Look at this." she showed it to Harry. "The author is postulating that shrivelfigs can be used in place of immature Mandrakes. That theory was not proven for another two hundred years. Anyway, of the potions, two are definitely dark. No questions there. Blood burning poison and a very nasty compulsion potion with a heavy lust effect. However, it also has the counter potions, so bonus marks for that. It has the pre-curser to Veritaserum, The one that needed a counteragent before the effect was removed. It also has the counteragent recipe. There is a darksight potion that will allow you to see clearly at night. Oh! Dragonskin potion. The one Terry used in the duel against Ron!" Hermione bounced in glee. "This is wonderful! Thank you Harry" She gave him a smoldering kiss for a few seconds before going back to her book, leaving Harry with a bemused expression.

Across from her, Susan blushed slightly and raised her chin. "I may have been wrong about the content of the book Hermione. However, it is still listed as a restricted text. It's not illegal to own, however you cant buy or sell it. It's illegal. I don't want you to get into trouble. "

Harry grinned lightly. "I was given the text by Narcissa Malfoy as part of the ransom for her son's life. No laws were broken in the obtaining of this book. The existence of it and owning a copy is not illegal. In fact, it is something of a status symbol amongst certain parts of the community, to own such texts."

Susan blinked, blushed and smiled shyly. "Good. I'd hate to have to try to arrest you. I think the entire Auror corps is afraid of you. I'd even heard Auror Dawlish saying that it was obvious that you'd undergone all sorts of dark rituals because that was the only explanation for how good you were." She smirked slightly. "Then the Longbottoms, Auror Shacklebolt and McKinnon all rounded on him and pointed out that while you were good the main problem was that Dawlish was just that bad and that he was more of a toady than a law enforcement operative. Neville's father suggested that perhaps he needed to be taken off executive protection and be put back into a couple of months dueling trailing, so he can gain an edge."

"No amount of edge will help if he has to duel Neville's father." Terry Boot just seemed amused.

"That's the truth," Susan nodded. "Before she became minister, Auntie was head of the DMLE, she says that even back then, Auror Longbottom was scary, now it turns out that it's a familial trait." She grinned at Neville. Who just smirked and poked her in the ribs, eliciting a giggle and a squirm.

* * *

The floo in 12 Grimmauld place flared into life and in rapid succession, three figures were spat from it. 

"You know, the Floo system, while I'm sure it was brilliant a hundred years ago, is just dirty and inefficient now." Hermione groused as she dusted herself off.

"So, you going to invent a better way Brains?" Harry seemed amused.

"I may too." Hermione nodded and turned to the door. "Where are our rooms?"

"Rooms? Oh, yes. Second floor, third and fourth doors on the right. Umm, are you sharing a room?" Sirius looked a touch embarrassed. "I wasn't sure, so I had two rooms prepared just in case.

Harry shrugged. "Sometimes we will, sometimes we wont. Depends how we feel each night."

"Right you are, Prongslet." Sirius grinned in good humour. "Good to see your Godfather's moral code is being observed."

"Which reminds me." Harry suddenly looked serious, eyes hard as the emeralds they were the colour of locked onto Sirius' grey eyes. "I am not Prongslet. I am not Prongs. I am Harry James Potter, who has earned the name of Streak. The Marauders weren't pranksters, but they knew how to prank. The Marauders were the most dangerous combat unit in the world. Their name struck fear into the heart of the enemy. I wont take kindly you calling me by the wrong name."

Sirius blinked and took a step back in shock.

"Don't get me wrong Padfoot, I love you. I'm immensely happy to be here, but I'm not James. Please, try to see me as my own person, not as just an adjunct to your best friend." Harry smiled softly. "Now that the uncomfortable stuff is dealt with, how about we relax, have a drink and work out what the hell we are going to do now."

Sirius nodded slowly and then clapped once. With a 'pop', a house elf, dressed in a butler's uniform appeared. "Jeeves, if you could take these fine peoples trunks up to the prepared rooms and unpack them please? We will be eating at six."

'Jeeves' Nodded and then with impossible gravity, "Of course Milord. If I may be so bold as to assume, that you will wish for excessive numbers of desert again? Or will the deuce be sufficient?"

Sirius pondered for a moment, "Excessive deserts will have to suffice for today. Thank you Jeeves."

The House elf bowed and vanished with a 'pop'.

"He is a bit crazy, but well worth it," Sirius admitted with a shrug.

Hermione and Harry just chuckled and relaxed on a couch.

* * *

The Burrow was, to the eyes of Ron and Ginny, smaller than they had remembered. The odd angles and the lopsided, about to topple over appearance was the same, but it felt smaller. There were fewer gnomes than they remembered. Even the kitchen seemed smaller. 

Noticing their bewildered expressions, Charlie smiled ruefully. "It just isn't as big as you remember?" He grinned at their nods. "I felt the same way after coming home after my first year away. I wasn't sure if I was let down, relieved or what. It just, wasn't as much as I thought it was. However, it's home. Why don't you drop off your trunks and then take a look around, see if there are any differences to where you were?"

The two nodded and headed up the stairs, leaving their parents and four brothers behind, who were looking at each other in concern.

* * *

Bill Weasley sighed as he leant back in the rather comfortable armchair he was seated in. There hadn't been much choice really and now he and his crew were under a very nasty oath to curse-break and safely unseal the tomb they were going to be taken to next week. They had also included a no escaping, trying to escape or contacting someone who would try to help them escape clause. All in all, while they were in luxurious conditions now before heading off into the field, a gilded cage was still a cage. At least they hadn't been forced to agree to work at full speed. They would be able to slow things down for months if they were lucky.

* * *

A/N: Yes ! An update! Thanks to Wargear for fixing up my unspeakable abuse of the english language 


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